Them
by Swordtheguy
Summary: In the relatively short amount of time that they had known each other, Steven and Connie had grown close. However when a training mission goes wrong and the two find themselves trapped in a strange Homeworld device as it activates, they begin to realize how close they can be... Part 1 of The Continuing Adventures of Steven Universe series.
1. Fusion

**Note: This takes place Between "Log Date 7 15 2" and "Super Watermelon Island".**

Today was one of the more stressful days that Steven had experienced lately, He walked in single file, all four of the Gems ahead of him, in a dark tunnel. Both Pearl and Peridot were at the front and had powerful beams of light illuminating from their gems. The twin lights were strong enough that, despite both Gems keeping their heads facing forward, they still managed to light up most of the area around them. This is how Steven noted a couple odd things about the tunnel. Like for example, the walls were very smooth, without a single chip or overlooked bump to break up its pristine flatness. Similarly, the ground was still just a dirt trail, but it was almost completely even save for a few times when it would dip into an incline to lead the group further down. These details plus a few more the youngest Crystal Gem had missed, had led Peridot to confirm what Steven had already thought about. Namely that this tunnel wasn't naturally occurring. Something or someone had carved it into the earth. But even that didn't really perturb him.

"Are you okay, Steven?" Connie asked. She had been several steps behind him but now was right beside him. This was the part of the day that had Steven stressing out. A few days prior, Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl had decided that, in addition to bringing along Peridot on the latest mission, they were also going to bring along Connie. Garnet had explained that, while Connie's martial might grew with every training session with Pearl, she still needed to be tested in other ways. Like working as part of a larger team and being able to follow instructions and orders, even in the heat of the moment. And while at the time Steven had been totally calm and even a little excited to go on a mission with his best friend, now all he felt was his stomach twisted into knots. Not that Steven doubted Connie could handle herself, but this still felt different. This was Connie's first official mission and he didn't want anything to go wrong.

"Steven?" Connie pressed, bringing Steven's attention to the present.

"Yeah, I'm alright, Connie." Steven responded, trying to force a small smile.

"You sure?" Connie asked, wearing an actual small smile.

Steven nodded and then responded, "Yeah. Just a little… nervous I guess."

"I know what you mean. Between the nervous feelings and my mom hovering over me, it took a while to get ready this morning." She indicated to the training uniform that she was wearing, as well as her braided hair and short sword hanging from her belt. "Though, trying to get past my mom with as few question as possible did help to distract me a little." Connie chuckled a little and Steven did as well in return.

"Is everything okay back there?" It was Garnet's level, monotone voice that called from in front of the pair.

"No, everything's fine, Garnet." Connie returned.

"Then we need silence." The Gems leader said simply. "We don't know what's at the end of this tunnel."

Connie blushed with embarrassment as she spoke again. "R-right. Sorry." Garnet said nothing more in response, so neither did Connie, who now only glared at the ground in front of her. Steven wanted to say something to try and cheer her up, but no doubt Garnet's wish for silence pertained to him as well. As they continued in silence broken only by the sound of their footsteps, the nervous, knotted feeling returned in Steven's gut.

After several minutes silently shuffling down the tunnel, a soft whisper made it's way down the row to the two youngsters. "Hold on, everyone." It was Pearl, the higher of the two beams of light in front of them moved to the side, indicating that the lithe Gem had turned her head. "Connie, will come up here?" Connie froze momentarily at this request before she began to make her way to the front of the group, Steven following behind her. As the two approached they could see just a few feet away that the tunnel ended. At the end was what Steven imagined a bank's vault door would look like. It was large, each of its four corners touched one of the tunnel's corners. Its shiny metal surface reflected back the light that Peridot still shone on it and it also had one of those spinney handles that never failed to remind Steven of the steering wheel on a pirate ship.

"Okay, Connie. This will be the first part of your test." Pearl explained, her voice still a whisper. "As you can see, there's a door at the end of the tunnel." Her eyes darted to the small figure beside her. "Peridot?"

The green Gem seemed to be caught a bit off guard by the sound of her own name, however, she quickly recovered. After clearing her throat, she began: "Right, yes. Well, um… Connie." Peridot eyed Connie up and down as she spoke as if she expected the young girl to burst into flames at any moment. She continued at a shaky pace, "It is very probable that there is no power… uh, connecting to the door. However, the interior room could very well still have… um…"

"Defenses?" Amethyst supplied, clearly tired of waiting for Peridot to finish.

"Yes, right. Thank you." Peridot responded, her cheeks glowing slightly.

Peridot's shaking, stuttering explanation struck Steven as kind of weird. Peridot never spoke this uncertainty, especially when it involved machines and other gadgets and gizmos that Peridot was well versed in. But then again, this was Peridot's first mission as well. Maybe she was just nervous as well.

"Connie." Garnet said, taking a step towards the girl. "With what Peridot said in mind, how would you proceed?"

Connie's eyes widened in surprise as she tried to decide her answer. "Oh, well…" she paused and looked towards the ground. After a moment, her gaze returned to Garnet. "I guess I would have two Gems at the door and everyone else hold back."

"Alright, then." Pearl nodded. "We're ready for your orders."

The wide-eyed look of surprise sprang from Connie's face once more. "Orders? I-I'm not the leader here." She up towards Garnet, who remained as unflappable as ever.

"This is all part of your test." Pearl explained. "What if you and Steven were somehow separated from the rest of us in a hostile environment? Even though it's not a comforting thought, you must always be ready to lead."

Connie, however, was still hesitant. "But I-"

But before she could finish, Steven took a step closer to her and laid a comforting hand on her shoulder. "It's okay, Connie. I know you can do it."

Steven's simple words of encouragement seemed to help Connie regain her confidence, as a calmer look overtook her face. "Alright, then." The young girl inhaled and held it for a moment before exhaling. And as if a switch had been pulled, Connie began to give her orders to the Gems. "Garnet: Stand at the side of the door. Pearl: I want you opposite of her. Peridot and Amethyst: Stay back and cover Pearl and Garnet." Connie inhaled deeply as if everything she had just said had been a literal weight on her chest. "And Steven," she said before letting her breath go, "you stand a few feet in front of the door next to me with your shield. If anything comes this way" she blushed as she finished speaking "you'll just have to protect us."

Silence hung in the air for a moment before Garnet broke it. "You all heard her. Everyone get in position." The Gems quickly moved to where Connie had ordered them to, with Steven and Connie maintaining their position about three feet from the door. The Gems, plus Steven and Connie, all drew their weapons and held them at the ready. Garnet turned her head towards Connie. "On your command."

Connie nodded solemnly. "Okay, go."

In a flurry of movement and a single well-placed punch, Garnet opened the door by sending it launching inside the room. Garnet then ducked quickly into the room, Pearl following close behind her. Meanwhile, Steven, Connie, Amethyst, and Peridot all held their positions for several minutes before Pearl called out from inside the room. "All clear." With that, the four made their way to the rooms doorway, dismissing and sheathing their weapons save for Peridot who never summoned one. Connie entered first, followed closely by Steven, Amethyst and finally Peridot. Now in the room proper, Steven could see what had warranted so much hiding and security. The room was fairly small, dimly lit and about has big Steven's house. Inside the room were several machines in various states of disrepair. One looked like a cube about as tall as Garnet with what looked like several light bulbs sticking out. Another was what looked like a hollow pyramid-like structure made of blue glass. Steven spotted what he thought was a door on it and it looked large enough for only two people to get in. But what caught his attention the most was a huge machine that covered the entire back wall. It was fairly nondescript, a single screen on it was lit up and a console was placed just bellow it. The entire rest of the machine was a dark gray metal that glinted in the twin lights of Pearl and Peridot.

"Hmm. Some kind of archival room." Pearl said looking around the area before turning around to face the four who had just entered. "Connie? Any orders?"

This time, Connie didn't miss a beat. "Peridot." She said to the Gem on her right. "Do you think you can access the computer?"

"Of course." Peridot began walking towards the console before even finishing her response.

As Peridot began typing away at the console's keyboard, Steven asked, "Anything else, Connie?"

Connie thought a moment before answering. "Um… Well, I guess just look around and see if there's anything of note around here."

"Good idea. Everyone spread out and search the area." Pearl said as everyone dispersed around the room.

Steven walked over to the blue pyramid and tried to look inside. It was hard to see inside, though, because of the dark blue tinting the pyramid's glass had And the dim lighting in the room didn't help either. Amethyst joined after him, saying as she came, "Wow. Homeworld sure can make some weird stuff, huh?"

"You don't know what it is?" Steven asked, still trying to peer inside.

The purple Gem now leaned against the pyramid. "Why would I know?" she shrugged dismissively. "Even Peri doesn't know what either of these things do."

Steven unstuck his face from the glass looked quizzically at Amethyst. "When did you ask Peridot about these things?"

Amethyst jumped with surprise, her eyes mimicking Connie's from earlier. "Uh, well I didn't, of course." she said hastily as her eyes darted from place to place as if the answer to Steven's question was written on a wall somewhere. "I mean just…. ya know. I'm assuming she doesn't know what they are."

"Is something wrong, Amethyst?" Steven asked genuinely. "You seem kind of on edge."

"Ah, you know how it is." Amethyst responded, waving Steven's question off. "Just, ya know. Nervous about Connie's test."

"Oh." Steven nodded with understanding. "Yeah, I get it." He turned back towards the pyramid to continue his investigation.

"Ya know," Amethyst began, changing the conversation. "There's a door right here." She pointed at the rectangular door between the two of them. "If you want to see what's inside, just go inside."

Steven once again took his face away from the glass. "Oh! That's a great idea, Amethyst." He turned and reached for the small handle on the door. It felt smooth and cold in his hand and Steven couldn't help but let a spark of excitement ignite inside of him. He opened the door carefully as he peeked around it to see inside and…!

"Aww. It's empty." Steven's face fell in disappointment as he beheld the empty pyramid. "I thought there would be something cool in it."

"Sorry, dude." Amethyst said, clapping Steven on the back. "For what's worth, I thought there would be something cool in it too." She grinned self-assuredly. "Because I didn't know what was in there."

Steven was about to ask Amethyst again if anything was wrong with her when he heard Pearl call behind him: "Alright, everyone! Gather around." Steven put his questions of Amethyst's state of mind behind him and made his way over to Pearl with Amethyst following behind him. When Steven got over to the lithe Gem, Garnet, Peridot, and Connie had already gathered. "Well, everyone." Pearl began once Steven and Amethyst had joined the group. "I think we've can officially call this mission a success."

"Phew." Amethyst exhaled, wiping her brow. "That's good. This charade was harder to keep up than I thought." The stout Gem grinned to herself for a second before realizing what she said. "Oh. Whoops."

"Amethyst…" Pearl groaned, pinching the bridge of her nose.

"W-what?" Connie looked unsure as to what was happening. "What charade?"

Steven nodded his head. "Yeah, what's going on?"

"Oh, Steven. Connie." Pearl said, her expression being a mix of embarrassment and disappointment. "We weren't going to tell you quite yet. Not until SOMEONE-" she looked pointedly at Amethyst, "-couldn't keep it quite just a little longer."

The two kids said nothing. Garnet spoke next. "We… haven't been… completely truthful with the two of you."

Peridot scoffed. "That's a bit of an understatement."

Without even turning to look at her, Garnet replied, "Now's not the time Peridot."

"So…" Steven began uncertainly. "Has this mission been a lie?"

"That's not quite it, Steven…" Pearl said.

"It's rather simple." Peridot interjected, a smug look on her face. "Three days ago, I and the rest of the Gems discovered this storage facility and, over a matter of hours, methodically checked every inch of it in order-"

"That's enough, Peridot." Garnet cut off the small Gem. "But… yes, that's correct. We have already cleared this place."

"But… then why lie to us about it?" Connie asked, visibly upset by this trickery.

"It's not that we were trying to lie you." Pearl began to explain. "We did intend this as a test. We just… wanted to make sure there wasn't anything dangerous lurking around."

"Oh… Okay." Steven said slowly. "But why lie though?"

No one answered for several minutes, before Amethyst spoke, "You know how it is, dude. We didn't want you to think that we thought you couldn't handle a mission." The Gem rubbed the back of her neck. "But… we also didn't want to expose you two to any danger."

Steven was silent and still gazed at the Gems, his eyes showing his hurt feelings. Connie however, looked wistfully away from the group. "Connie. Steven." Garnet spoke as she kneeled down to eye level with the two. "Yes, we lied. And we shouldn't have done so." Steven and Connie were now both looking intently at the red Gem leader. "We… just wanted what was best for you. But clearly we were wrong. And we apologize. Right, Gems?"

"Yes, we do. I'm sorry Connie, Steven." Pearl apologized, her eyes reflecting the remorse all the Gems felt.

"Yeah, me too." Amethyst added as she kicked an errant rock on the ground. "It was a kinda jerky thing to do."

"Well, I wanted to tell you…" Peridot said, but then the three other Gems shot her a group look and she hastily added, "But I still didn't tell you. And that was wrong. So I apologize as well."

For awhile, neither Steven nor Connie said anything. Their eyes were cast downwards as they both thought about what just happened. It was Connie who broke the silence. "I would have been okay with the test even if I had known you had cleared it ahead of time." The Gems said nothing in response, only maintaining their soft gaze at the pair of kids.

Steven quietly asked, "No more lying from now on, okay?"

Smiles emerged on all four of the Gems faces. "Alright." Garnet said weightily. "No more lies."

Steven and Connie returned their smiles. "Group hug to make everyone feel better?" Steven asked. Without a word, Garnet, Amethyst, Pearl, and Connie gathered around him and all embraced each other. However, Peridot still stood apart from the others. "Peridot." Steven said as best he could from his surrounded position. "Group hug means everyone joins in."

The green Gem looked at her feet and stammered her reply, "Well, I don't know about…" she trailed off.

"Come on, Peri." Amethyst said, poking her head out from the group. "It'll make you feel better."

Grumbling under her breath, Peridot slowly made her way to the group. As she approached, Steven and Amethyst unhooked their arms to allow Peridot in the group hug. The unsure Gem cautiously approached the opening in the hug before Amethyst used her shape-shifting talents to stretch her arm out and grab Peridot and bring into the hug. As soon as she was in, Steven and Amethyst locked arms again. And for a few minutes, Steven, Connie, and the Gems hugged each other with an uncomfortable Peridot caught in the middle.

The hug finished, the group now stood in the center of the room, save for Peridot, who stood off to the side, as if she were afraid another group hug could spontaneously happen and grab her again.

"So Peridot," Connie began, "did you find anything interesting about either of she machines?" She indicated towards the blue pyramid and the metal box.

"Why yes, actually. Quite a lot." Peridot said, the familiar hint of smugness returning to her voice.

"Like what?" Steven asked.

"Well for one, the metal box was used for-" Peridot stopped talking as Steven began to feel something. It took him a moment to realize what it was. The ground beneath his feet was rumbling.

"Guys?…" Steven asked. However, the only answer he received were the Gems all summoning their weapons. The three spread apart, each turning their heads as if to watch every corner of the room.

"Steven." said Connie. Her sword was drawn and she looked at her friend with a determined expression on her face. Steven nodded his understanding. He clenched his left hand into a fist and summoned his shield.

"Get ready, everyone." Garnet said. "It's going to come from this way." She, along with Pearl and Amethyst faced the doorway leading to the tunnel towards the surface. Steven and Connie took up positions next to each, Steven in the front with his shield at the ready and Connie close behind him with sword swaying slightly with her breathing.

For several long seconds, nothing happened, save for the continued rumbling and shaking of the cave. Steven was beginning to wonder if anything was going to happen when suddenly, a giant blue blur burst through the doorway, creating a new doorway that was more then three times the original size. Steven raised his shield so as to protect himself and Connie from the flying debris caused by the newcomer's explosive entrance. As the debris and dust settled, he lowered it and was able to get a look at their aggressor. It was clearly a corrupted Gem as Steven could see it's gem. The beast looked him like a giant, blue beetle. It had eight legs, four on each side, and it's back shell sputtered opened revealing it's huge wings. And at its forehead grew out a very painful looking horn that split into two separate points and in the crook of this split rested its gem. The beetle Gem waited after its entrance as it took in what now laid before it. After a moment, its gaze settled on the young pair of fighters.

"Steven! Connie! Look out!" one of the Gems called out. Steven couldn't quite tell who because as they yelled out, the beetle charged the pair and on pure reflex, Steven surrounded himself and Connie in one of his pink, protective bubbles. Despite his quick reaction, however, both of them were still sent flying back before finally hitting something. The bubble dispersed as Steven rose to his feet and at first, he couldn't tell were he was as everything was shaded blue and eerily quite. However after a series of blinks to clear his head, Steven saw that the two of them were in the blue pyramid. Connie quickly strode over to the door and pushed against it. But it didn't open.

"Steven! Help me with this door." Connie called, still pushing fruitlessly against the door. Steven stepped over to her and pushed with all his might with Connie against the door. But it didn't open. It didn't even budge.

"Maybe it only opens from the outside." Steven suggested as the two as the two relieved themselves from their effort. He peered outside the dark blue glass to try and find help. It was hard to tell what he saw, but it looked like Amethyst and Pearl double teaming the beetle Gem, with Amethyst using her whip to grab one or more of its legs and Pearl was throwing spears while attempting to have one hit under the Gem beetle's shell. Garnet stood apart from, perhaps waiting for the right moment to strike.

"Garnet!" Steven called out while banging his fist against the glass. The Gem turned at her name. "The door won't open! Let us out.!" Steven explained, hoping Garnet could here him. Her gaze lingered on the two before she turned back around and ran towards the beetle Gem.

"Where's she going?" Connie asked. Steven didn't respond and instead only kept watching what was going on outside the pyramid. With Garnet now in the fray, Pearl and Amethyst ceased their attacks. Garnet then charge the beetle Gem and with all her might, she gave the corrupted Gem a powerful right hook. However what effect she had hoped her attack would have, Garnet must have been disappointed when the beetle Gem knocked her away with its horn. The beetle now seemed angry at its attackers. Its eyes lit up with a bright blue glow and was then Steven noticed that jolts of electricity were jumping between the two points on its horn. Pearl said something to Amethyst, who in turn said something while pointing towards the wall computer. The sparks the beetle Gem were forming were growing larger and brighter. With this increased brightness in the room, Steven found it hard to tell what was happening outside of the pyramid. He thought he could see Garnet join Pearl and Amethyst and there were some pointing and gesturing, but Steven couldn't really make out what was going on.

"Steven?"

It was Connie, breaking Steven out of his trance. "What did you say, Connie?"

"I asked if you heard a humming sound?" Connie repeated herself. Steven hadn't, but after she mentioned it, Steven did begin to hear a humming sound. It seemed to be coming from above them. Steven looked up and was slightly alarmed at what he saw. Above the two of them was an electric blue light that was steadily growing in size and brightness.

"I think the machine is activating!" Connie cried out. "Steven! We need to get out of here!"

Steven slammed himself against the door, but it still wouldn't open. He slammed against it again and again, but still to no avail. "It won't open! We're trapped…"

"Oh, Steven… What now?" Connie moaned, her face twisted with worry.

"Don't worry Connie." Steven said, moving to his friend's side. "Whatever happens, we're togeth-"

Light flashed, engulfing them.

For a long time, they felt nothing.

And then, everything.

The light began to recede as they fell to their hands and knees. They felt strange, like their insides, had been all scrambled together. It took all of their willpower to keep their eyes open, even though all they were looking at now was the blue glass bottom of the pyramid. They raised their head and could see figures approaching them. The door opened and they could the familiar feet and legs of the Crystal Gems. They tried to speak, to ask what had happened, but no words came out. The Gems were talking, but they couldn't here what was said. They coughed harshly and the last bits of strength drained out of them as they collapsed on the ground.

Pearl gasped. "Stevonnie!"

Stevonnie. What a nice name, they thought as the last strand of consciousnesses left them.


	2. Not Alone

Stevonnie had never dreamt before. Oh, they had memories of dreams, but those weren't their dreams. Or, not fully their dreams. However now they were dreaming their own dreams and in them, they saw images that were both familiar and strange. They saw their Dad, slumping into a beach chair outside his van. He had his guitar in hand and was casually tuning and strumming it. He continued this until he seemed to notice Stevonnie. He paused, unsure for a moment before cheerfully beckoning them over. As Stevonnie approached, the image of their dad and his van seemed to dim before disappearing completely. But before they even fully understood what happened they thought they could hear their name being called. They slowly turned around and found themselves face to face with the Gems. All four of them were talking to one another, however, they made no sounds even though their mouths were moving. They all had a look of concern on their face, as if whatever they were wordlessly talking to each other about was very distressing. Stevonnie tried to talk them, to ask them what wrong. But whenever they did, the Gems merely looked at them with their sad expression deepening as they turned back towards each other to continue their silent conversation. Stevonnie tried to call out to them again, but before they could the Gems were gone, replaced by two more figures. Stevonnie knew instantly they were. Mom and Dad. Their looks were both intense and disapproving. For a long time, nothing happened. Stevonnie didn't move, nor did their parents. And just as their pointed gazes were becoming too much, they too faded into nothingness. Stevonnie was now alone and was unsure what to do. They dropped to their knees while covering their face with their hands. They didn't know what was going on or why they were here. As Stevonnie tried desperately tried to make sense of what was going on, they could begin to feel themselves falling. They were falling and falling. Faster and faster, with no end in sight. Stevonnie clamped their eyes shut trying to wish all this away as the ground began to come into view and…

* * *

Stevonnie jolted awake, the top of their head hitting the wall that the couch pressed up against. The hit caused what felt like cannon blasts to erupt in Stevonnie's head. The freshly formed fusion clutched their head with both of their hands as they shut their eyes tight and endured the pain. As it began to recede and Stevonnie posture relaxed, they could feel a hand on their shoulder. Stevonnie slowly opened their eyes, careful to not start the internal fireworks again. The sight of the wood plank roof above them was a sight of relief.

"Stevonnie." a calm and even voice spoke. Stevonnie turned their head and saw a red hand resting on their shoulder, connected to a similarly red arm. They followed the arm with their eyes until they landed on the face of the shade wearing leader of the Crystal Gems.

"Garnet!" Stevonnie cried, igniting a mild barrage of pain inside their skull. They winced at the pain as Garnet kneeled down to be at Stevonnie's level.

"Easy." Garnet said. "You need to relax."

Stevonnie nodded softly as the pain once again receded. "I'm… back at the house, right?" They carefully moved their head around to get a better look at their surroundings. They saw the coffee table and the fireplace behind Garnet. In front them, they saw the way to the Crystal Temple and to their side they saw the kitchen. "What… What happened, Garnet?"

"That's… not an easy question, Stevonnie." Garnet replied.

At the mention of their name, Stevonnie's eyes grew wide with the worry of a sudden realization. They laid, frozen for several seconds before saying, almost too quietly to hear, "I'm fused." They refocused on Garnet. "I'm fused." Their voice grew in volume and worry as they spoke. "I don't remember fusing, Garnet. Why am I fused?!"

Seeing the rising panic in her friend, Garnet placed a heavy hand on their chest. "Stevonnie, you need to stay calm. Your physical form is still adjusting to the fusion."

"Adjusting to the fusion." Stevonnie repeated a slight hint of panic still in their voice. "I never needed to 'adjust' for any other fusion."

"I know. But this wasn't a… normal fusion."

Stevonnie let what Garnet said to hang in the air for a moment before speaking. "So." Stevonnie said finally as they slowly pushed themselves into an upright sitting position. Their head dully throbbed in response, but otherwise, the pain and discomfort seemed to be going away. Now sitting up, Stevonnie continued, "Let's start from the beginning." They closed their eyes. "The last thing I remember happening is that I was-… or Steven and Connie, were trapped in the blue pyramid thing." The fusion opened their eyes and saw that Garnet had perched herself on the coffee table opposite of them. They looked down at their bare feet as they continued, "And then there was a bright light and I was on the ground and I saw you guys come towards me and…" Stevonnie trailed off. "And then I woke up here." They looked up at Garnet. "That's all I remember… Garnet, did that pyramid do this to me?"

Garnet nodded slowly. "We believe so, yes. The machine was not active. We checked it when we did our initial clearing of the area. However, Peridot theorized that the Blue Beetle's self-generating electric charge also created an electric field around itself that acted as a jump start to the pyramid's fuel cells. And as a result, it discharged that power the only way it could. By activating." The Gem raised her hand to her mouth in contemplation. "Or, at least I think that's what Peridot said." She lowered her hand, revealing a small, bemused smirk. "You know how she can get sometimes."

Stevonnie awkwardly returned Garnet's grin. "Yeah. I know."

Garnet's smirk slowly faded as she continued, "Regardless of how it happened, the pyramid machine does seem to be the source of this forced fusion. Which… leads to the more troubling element in all this." Garnet paused as if considering her choice of words. "Stevonnie." she began heavily. "What do you know about diffusion?"

Stevonnie blinked at the seemingly random question. "Diffusion? As in, me?"

Garnet nodded.

"Well…" Stevonnie started uncertainly. "There's not really much to it, right? I mean, every other time I've fused, I just… feel like I want to diffuse and I do."

Garnet nodded again. "Yes, that's about what it's like, I suppose. But there's a bit more to it than just that." Garnet paused again before continuing. "You see Stevonnie, diffusion, much like fusion itself, is an innate trait for a Gem. A human doesn't think about breathing and yet they continue to do so. It's similar with fusion and diffusion for a Gem."

"So it can happen without you thinking about it." Stevonnie said, thinking back to the first time Steven and Connie fused on the sunset steeped beach.

"Yes." Garnet replied. "This applies to both fusion and diffusion. Like you said, when it feels right, it happens." Stevonnie remained silent as they listened to Garnet. "But there are other ways to cause a fusion to diffuse. The most common are stress. Whether physical or mental, when too much stress is put on a fusion they will diffuse."

"Well jeez…" Stevonnie pondered. "Considering what the aftermath of being zapped by the pyramid felt like, I'd hate to see what kind of stress is needed to… diffuse…" Stevonnie trailed off as Garnet's point began to dawn on them.

Garnet seemed reluctant to continue. "For awhile after the incident, we didn't try and move you because we thought you would diffuse. But you didn't. And that is… concerning."

"Well, here." Stevonnie said as they tried to slowly rise to their feet. Garnet stood from her seat and took their arms to help them up and keep them stable them. Immediately Stevonnie felt a surge of lightheadedness that almost knocked them back down. But with Garnet's support, the feeling passed and Stevonnie was able to stand on their own. "I'll just try and diffuse." Garnet said nothing in return, only taking a step back and waiting. Stevonnie closed their eyes, though they felt somewhat unsure how to proceed.

"Just relax." Garnet said, sensing Stevonnie hesitance. "Do what comes naturally."

Stevonnie nodded and inhaled deeply-

 _We want to diffuse, right?_

 _I think so._

 _Well, we can't stay like this forever. What would our parents say?_

 _Yeah, I agree. Dad probably wouldn't be too happy._

 _And I don't even want to imagine what Mom and Dad would say._

 _Yeah, it would be a very weird conversation, that's for sure._

 _And, you know… we can… always fuse again sometime._

 _Heh heh. Yeah. I know… Alright, are you ready?_

 _Yep._

 _Okay, let's try it._

-and exhaled quickly. They opened their eyes expectantly but were disappointed when they still saw Garnet at their eye level.

"It didn't work." Stevonnie lamented. "I… I can't diffuse."

"It seems not." Garnet said simply.

"What am I going to do, Garnet?" They spoke quickly and frantically. "If I can't diffuse then-"

"That's enough." Garnet said, cutting Stevonnie off. "We are already working to fix this. Pearl, Amethyst, and Peridot are still at the archival room and are pouring over all the notes, logs, and other bits of information about the pyramid machine that they can get in order to try and find a way for you to diffuse."

However, Garnet's words did very little to calm the increasingly frantic fusion. "But…! But Garnet! What if… what if I… never diffuse?"

"You don't need to be thinking like that." Garnet firmly responded. "We're going to find a way to help you." Stevonnie however, still felt despondent. Garnet could see tears beginning to well up in their eyes. "Stevonnie." she said, stepping closer to her worried friend. "Let me ask you something. If this wasn't an abnormal fusion if it was just like every other time you had fused, how would you feel?"

"Um… well, I-… good, I guess." Stevonnie fumbled around, trying to find the right words. "I mean, now that the shock as worn off, I feel… amazing, mostly. Just like when I first fused."

"Good. Now, do you remember what I said when we first met?"

Stevonnie hesitated before answering. "That I'm an experience."

Garnet stepped closer to Stevonnie, placing her hands on either of their shoulders. "That's right. And even though this isn't a normal fusion, that is still true. You need to be the best experience you can be, even now. Especially now."

Stevonnie sniffed as they wiped the tears from their eyes. "Okay, Garnet. I'll try."

Garnet softly smiled. "Good." She pulled Stevonnie closer and planted a quick kiss on their cheek. The Gem's leader put her arms back at her sides as she continued. "For now, I want you to leave the house and go have some fun."

"What are you going to do?" Stevonnie asked.

"I'm going to return to the archival room and see if the others have made any progress." She began to walk towards the warp pad and Stevonnie followed behind her. The red Gem stepped onto the pad and turned back towards Stevonnie. "Remember. Be the best experience you can be."

Stevonnie nodded, smiling just slightly. Garnet both nodded and smiled back at them and, in a flare of light from the warp pad, she was gone. However Stevonnie just stood there, their head still swimming with everything that had happened. They closed their eyes, trying to focus and sort all the conflicting feelings they felt now. Stevonnie inhaled-

 _We can't diffuse._

 _No, we can't._

 _What are we going to do now?_

 _Well, Garnet said they were working on a way to diffuse us. So we just need to wait._

 _Just wait…_

 _Hey, are you alright?_

 _Oh, Steven. I just… I don't know what's gonna happen…_

 _It's okay, Connie. If… we're being honest with each other… I'm kind of afraid too. But it makes feel better that…_

 _What? It's okay, Steven. You can tell me._

 _Well, I feel better knowing your with me._

 _…Thanks, Steven. And your right, no matter what happens during this, we're in it together… That does make me feel kind of better._

 _So… I guess we should follow Garnet's advice._

 _Let's go have some fun?_

 _Yep. Let's go._

-and exhaled sharply. Without even realizing it, they were now smiling deeply. The deep sense of dread that had taken root after their failed diffusion attempt didn't go away, but now Stevonnie felt like they could handle what came next. Their feelings were clearer and their mind was set. They turned and made their way towards the door leading outside. As they opened it and felt the sunshine on their face, they felt better than they had since waking up.

They weren't alone.


	3. Fun

It was strange for Stevonnie to approach Beach City like this. Or at all, really. They knew the town so well and yet had spent so very little time here themselves. They knew all the places Steven and Connie liked to go, both together and by themselves, but Stevonnie had never been to most of these places herself. Funland Arcade, the Big Donut, Fish Stew Pizza, Beach Citywalk Fries-

Stevonnie's stomach growled and grumbled at the thought of so much food. Now that their nerves had settled somewhat, it seemed like hunger had come in to replace it as the uncomfortable feeling in their gut. Stevonnie held their stomach as they considered what they should get to eat.

"Hmm…" Stevonnie pondered to themselves. "I think a donut or three would be good right about now." And to wit, the Big Donut was just a little ways ahead. Stevonnie could already see it's namesake in the distance. Their pace quickened as their stomach growled again. They quickly came to the Big Donut's door and Stevonnie pulled it open and walked nose first into the smell of freshly baked donuts.

"Welcome to the Big Donut!" Called a familiarly friendly voice from the employees-only back room. "I'll be with you in momentarily!" Stevonnie walked up to the front counter, their eyes darting across the menu above it. After a minute or so Sadie, the curly-haired employee of the Big Donut revealed herself. "So what can I get-" she stopped mid-sentence as she looked up at Stevonnie. "Oh!" she said, the surprise she felt clearly displayed on her face.

"Hi, Sadie." Stevonnie awkwardly greeted."You, um. You do remember me, right?"

After taking a second to process what they had said, Sadie slowly nodded. "Of course, I do. Er, Stevonnie, right?" The fusion nodded, relieved that Sadie did recall their last meeting. However, the donut clerk soon added something that made their heart skip a beat. "Your Steven and his friend… uh, together." Sadie pushed her hands together and interlocked her fingers to help illustrate her statement.

Stevonnie felt suddenly embarrassed as they asked, "How do you know about that? I thought Mr. Universe was the only human to know about fusion."

"Well, I wouldn't say I 'know' anything about it." Sadie explained as she leaned on the counter. "But you were at that rave a few months back. And Ronaldo saw you uh, come apart into Steven and his friend-"

"Connie."

"Oh, is that her name? Sorry, but we haven't really been introduced yet." Sadie rubbed her arm. "But, yeah. Ronaldo saw you come apart into Steven and Connie at the rave and he posted it to his blog on Tamblr."

"You read Ronaldo's blog? I thought Steven was the only one who did." Stevonnie said with genuine surprise.

Sadie shrugged her shoulders. "Sometimes there are slow days and not many people come in. Gotta spend my time somehow."

"I see…" Stevonnie said slowly. "And you don't find the fact that I'm literally made up of two people to be… I dunno. Weird? Distressing? Anything?"

"Look, I'm not sure how memories work when your 'made up of two people', but there have been some weird things that have happened in this town." Sadie began to count off her fingers. "Tiny watermelon shaped Stevens running around, the ocean just disappearing one morning, and of course, the giant hand shaped spaceship that crashed into the beach near the lighthouse." Sadie drummed her fingers across the counter a few times as she finished, "Not to mention all the stories Steven has told me about his adventures. So to answer your question, no it's not that strange."

"Huh." Stevonnie huffed. "I guess I'd never really thought about it like that. When you just list it out like that I guess this seem seem kind of low-scale."

"Well, hey." Sadie said as she pushed off the counter. "Enough talk about the weirdness that happens around town. You came in here for a reason, right?"

"Oh!" Stevonnie exclaimed as a pang of hunger struck their stomach. "Yeah, I did. I'm like, really hungry."

"Well you certainly came to the right place to help with that." Sadie said. "How many donuts can I get for you?"

Stevonnie thought while they gazed at the many different donuts in the case behind Sadie. "Um… I'll take two- no three…" Stevonnie pursed their lips as they tried to decide the number of donuts they wanted. "I'll take three donuts, please Sadie." After they spoke, Stevonnie's stomach let out the loudest, most intense hunger growl yet. "Excuse me." The fusion blushed and looked down at the ground, embarrassed at their bodily sounds. "It's been a long morning."

"It's alright, Stevonnie." Sadie said as she gathered the requested number of donuts. "Believe me, when I say, there have been people who have come in and made…" Sadie trailed off as she turned back towards the counter with a bag containing the requested donuts in it. "Well, let's say some people make more than just tummy rumbling sounds."

Stevonnie could smell the much-awaited donuts in the bag. They were just beginning to imagine how they would taste when a terrible realization dawned on them. "I don't have any money with me!" They quickly patted down the sides of their legs, hoping that something of value was in one of their pockets but alas, there was naught. Crushed, Stevonnie fell to their knees and laid their forehead against the counter on which their pastry reward stood atop. "Of all the days for Steven to clean out his pockets…"

"It's okay, Stevonnie." Sadie said. "Here, you can just have them."

Stevonnie head perked up. "Sadie." They said their eye alight. "I can't ask you to just give me them."

"you're not asking, I'm offering. In fact, I'm insisting." Sadie pushed the donut bag over to the still kneeling fusion.

Stevonnie stood back up, their bright eyes still on Sadie. "But, I got free donuts when I was in here last time. I couldn't possibly just take more."

Sadie crossed her arms on the counter as leaned against it. "If it really bothers you that much, you can always just pay me next time you come in. Or even the next time Steven comes in."

Stevonnie's eyes sparkled with delight and gratitude. "Sadie… Thank you so much for this! I really appreciate it!"

"Uh, it's okay, Stevonnie." Sadie replied, raising a bemused eyebrow. "It's just some donuts."

"I know…" Stevonnie said as they grabbed the donut bag. "But it just… kinda feels like this is the first thing to go completely right today." They gave a small grin to the blonde-haired donut provider. "Like I said, long morning."

Sadie sighed contently. "Well, then I'm just glad I was able to help the next part of your day kick off in the right direction."

Stevonnie began walking backwards towards the exit. "You really did, Sadie. Thank you!"

Sadie waved to her retreating customer. "No problem, Stevonnie. Hope the rest of your day's better then your long morning."

Stevonnie stood in the doorway of the donut shop. "Me too. And I hope the rest of your day is good too. See ya." And with that Stevonnie walked out of the Big Donut, bag of deliciousness in hand, and back into the bright afternoon sun.

* * *

Stevonnie walked down the sidewalk, eagerly devouring the last of their donuts. Sadie had been nice enough to give them three of Steven's favorite donut, Super Galaxy Blast. It was a relatively simple glazed donut with chocolate frosting and red, purple, white, and green sprinkles. And as they popped the last bite of the last donut in their mouth and patted their now content stomach, Stevonnie decided that they were their favorite as well.

They swallowed the last bit and crumpled up the bag they had been in and tossed it into a nearby trashcan as they walked by. Stevonnie had kept their hand on their belly as they relished the content fullness that had settled over them, when they noticed something. They could feel their gem. But that was strange, wasn't it? They were wearing a shirt…

For the first time since fusing, Stevonnie looked down at themselves and saw, with some amusement, what they were currently clothed in. On their torso they wore Steven's star t-shirt with Connie's purple training top over it. They were both way to short to reach their waist, thus revealing their midsection and gem. Their waist and legs followed a similar pattern, only reversed. Steven's turned-up jeans were the outermost layer, with Connie's training uniform placed under them. And much like the two tops they wore, their pants were much to short, with the jeans not even reaching all the way down their thighs. After looking over their mismatched and much to small outfit, Stevonnie had to wonder why Sadie hadn't mentioned anything about it…

They was still thinking about their clothes situation and how best to correct it when they heard someone call their name. They stopped in their tracks and wondered who could be calling their name. They turned towards the direction the call had come from and saw, with what could only be described a growing sense of horror, where they were: the It's a Wash car wash. And of course, the person who had called their name was the same one who was sitting in a beach chair in front of a psychedelically painted van and strummed a guitar.

"Hey, Stevonnie!" called Greg Universe as he waved his hand to get to get the fusions attention, despite the fact that they were looking right at him.

"Hi Da- er, Mr. Universe." Stevonnie offered back meekly. Greg was now making a gesturing motion for Stevonnie to come over. With just a bit of hesitance, they walked over to join him in the limited shade that his van provided. The retired guitarist strummed a few chords a Stevonnie walked over.

"Well, well," he said finishing his chords. "I have to say, I was not expecting to see you walk by today. It's um, Stevonnie, right?"

"Yes, that right." the quickly panicking fusion said. "It's good to see you again, Mr. Universe."

"Hmph. Wow, Mr. Universe. I can't remember the last time someone called me that." Greg said as he set his guitar aside. "Here, you have minute to sit down, right?" He gestured towards a beach chair similar to his. Stevonnie took the seat trying to decide what they could tell Greg without him freaking out.

"Connie calls you Mr. Universe, too." Stevonnie said trying to stall for time.

"Hmm. Yeah, I guess she does." Greg said, stroking his chin. "Still, though, you're like, what half Connie right? Or… something like that."

"Well, sort of." Stevonnie said, eager to for this line of conversation in order to buy more time to concoct their story. "It's a bit more complicated than that, though."

"Yeah, I kinda figured that." Greg leaned back in his seat. "One time, I asked Rose about fusion and I think about twenty minutes into her explanation she saw the blank look on my face and decided to cut it sort with just one rules: Try not to think about fusion too much"

"Good advice." Stevonnie smirked.

"Hey, what can I say? She was a smart lady." Greg responded, grinning from ear to ear. "Though, now that I think about it, that was kinda the point where Rose really started to keep me out of the loop about all the Gem business. Not that I was ever in the loop, of course. But they seemed to start making a deliberate effort to not talk about anything they were doing while I was around. I didn't really mind, though. Not until Steven came along anyway. I'll admit, I kinda care about all that stuff now because I sometimes worry about his safety."

"That must not have been easy, just leaving all that up to the Gems." Stevonnie said, pangs of guilt prodding their insides.

"A little, at first I guess. But all the Gem business is over my head anyway, so it was best to leave it to them. The Gems can handle themselves fine without me getting in their way. And as much as I worry, Steven's in good hands with them." Greg picked his guitar back up and began to pluck at it's strings. Stevonnie's mind raced to try and find something else to talk about, but unfortunately Greg asked the question they were dreading: "So, Stevonnie. Why are you here?" Stevonnie snapped their attention back at Greg, who seemed a bit taken aback by it. "I mean, not why you're here, as in with me, but why are Steven and Connie fused?"

"Oh, that." Stevonnie sputtered out, trying their best to hide their rising panic. "Well, you see it's… uh, well… a test." Stevonnie's eyes lit up with their story now becoming fully formed in their mind. "You see Mr. Universe, in addition to everything else about it, fusion is a potent ability in battle." Stevonnie explained smoothly. "A fusion will always be more powerful then the two fusing individuals."

"Right." Greg nodded his head slowly.

"Well, the Gems want to see how long Steven and Connie can stay comfortably fused. So… yeah, that's why I'm here."

"I see." Greg said. "How's the test been going, then?"

"Oh… pretty good." Stevonnie lied. "Garnet just said to go out and have some fun. Pretty easy directions to follow, all things considered."

"Well, if they told you to go have fun, I guess you should be heading on out. Can't be much fun sitting here with me." Greg smiled sheepishly.

"No, that's not true Mr. Universe. In fact…" Stevonnie's second stroke of inspiration suddenly took shape. "I actually wanted to ask for your help."

"You do?" Greg responded, surprised by this turn of events. "Well… I'll do what I can. What do ya need?"

"When Steven and Connie fuse, I end up wearing whatever they were wearing. Which is why I'm dressed-" they motioned downward at their body, "-like I just ran through a clothesline."

"Yeah, I did kinda notice your outfit." Greg admitted. "I didn't want to say anything in case it was what all the cool kids are wearing these days."

"Right so-… Wait, is this what you think cool people wear?" Stevonnie asked raising and eyebrow.

"Hey, the cool people back in my day wore much more ridiculous outfits. Remind me to show you glam rockers sometime."

"Glam rocker? What was- Nevermind." Stevonnie waved the thought away. "But anyway, yes. I was wondering if you had any spare clothes I could borrow. Only until I diffuse of course."

"Hmm." Greg pondered. "I might have something. Come over here." He put his guitar aside and got up from his seat, Stevonnie also rising from theirs. They walked over to the back of the van and Greg open it's doors. In the back of the van were several boxes of various sizes, all of them labeled 'S.A.'"

"What are these?"

"Stuff I was cleaning out of the storage unit this morning. I'm gonna give away what I can and donate what I can't."

Stevonnie lifted the lid of one of the boxes and saw stacks of old music magazines dated from the 1970's. "Are their really people who would want any of this?" they asked, as they picked up one of the dusty magazines.

"Well, there is the third option. The recycling plant." he said as he began digging through another of the boxes. They continued this for awhile, both looking through boxes, although Stevonnie didn't know what specifically they were looking for when Greg called from within one of the boxes. "Ah ha! Here they are." Greg removed both himself and a singular shirt from the box. The shirt had patterned on it a starry spacescape and across the top, spelled out in colorful, elaborate lettering were the words, 'Universal Experience'"

Stevonnie looked at the shirt, starry-eyed and only saying, "Whoa, I like it."

"Do ya?" Greg turned the shirt around to take his own look. "That was going to be the name of my first world tour after I made it big in Empire City."

"You made up shirts for a tour before it was even going to happened?"

Greg shrugged nonchalantly. "At that time it seemed like a sure thing." He handed the shirt to Stevonnie who, after now seeing it up close, noticed something. "Ah." Greg said, noticing the same thing and rubbing the back of his head. "Yeah, that's an XL… So it might hang a little loose on you."

But Stevonnie still looked satisfied with their new apparel. "That's alright. I… really like this shirt. It speaks to me, as weird as that sounds."

"Hey, whatever makes you feel great." Greg dived back into the box. "But right now, all you have is half an outfit. Let's see if we can… Ah, here we go." He pulled out of the box a pair of pristine looking jean shorts. "I think these will fit you."

"Wow, Mr. Universe." Stevonnie said, taking the jeans. "These look like they haven't ever been worn."

"That's because they haven't been. I bought those several years back and uh, well, never got the chance to wear them."

Stevonnie blinked with curiosity. "Never got a chance to wear them? Why not?"

"Let's just say, I'm a man who likes the simple pleasures in life." He patted his round belly. " Especially if the simple pleasures are coated in cheese and pepperonis."

Stevonnie let out some stiffed chuckling. "Hey, whatever makes you feel great." The pair both broke out in laughter at this. After regaining their composure, Stevonnie asked, "Can I change real quick in your van?"

Greg said, "Sure." and Stevonnie climbed into the back of the van, pushing boxes out of their way so they would have some room to maneuver. They carefully undressed and redressed into their new clothes. After giving their new ensemble a once over, they emerged from the van.

"Well? What do you think?" Stevonnie asked, twirling on their heel.

"I think you look good. Though, that shirt is a bit big on you."

Stevonnie had to concede the point, however they knew a trick to help them. Grabbing the excess hem of the shirt, they quickly tied and knotted it so now the shirt felt nice and snug on them. "How's that?" they asked.

"Looks like your ready to have the run of the town now." Greg responded. "Here, you can take this." He handed them a plastic bag. "You can put your old clothes in there until you get back to the house."

Stevonnie nodded as they began to put their discarded clothes in the bag. "Right, good idea Mr. Universe." After that was done, they both just stood there, unsure what to say next. After a few seconds, Stevonnie broke the silence. "Well, um… Thanks for the clothes Mr. Universe. I'll make sure Steven returns them when I diffuse."

"That's okay, Stevonnie. You- or Steven, I guess, can keep them, so that the next time you fuse, you have something to wear."

Stevonnie grinned as they picked up the bag Steven and Connie's clothes. "Alright. Thanks again, Mr. Universe." Stevonnie gave a small wave as they began to walk away.

"Hey, anytime! I'm always ready to help!" Greg called after them as they began to head back down the sidewalk.

* * *

Stevonnie walked up and down the boardwalk, trying to decide what they wanted to do. "Hmm…" they pondered. "What would be fun now…" Their eyes gazed up and down the businesses on the boardwalk, before landing on a bright, neon-lit sign. Stevonnie slapped their forehead as they wondered how they could have forgotten the obvious. "Funland Arcade! There's always fun there!"

The fusion burst in the entrance of the arcade. All at once the unfamiliar familiar sensations began to wash over them. The smell of concessions and slightly burning electronics, the sound of loud, electronic sounding bleeps and bloops, and the bright, rapidly changing colors on the various arcade machine screens. All these things came together and washed over Stevonnie, causing them to grin with excited anticipation. Stevonnie weaved around each of the games, hopping from one to the next trying to decide which one they wanted to play. Finally, after much consideration, Stevonnie decided they wanted to play the all-time classic, 'Sandwich Age'" Stevonnie dropped their bag of clothes as they reached into their pocket, only to rediscovered the horrible truth they had forgotten. "I have no money…" Stevonnie moaned as sadness and melancholy filled them.

They sat there for a time, hunched over with their legs tucked underneath them and tightly hugging the bag of clothes they had shed, as they tried to think of some way to play the game. They had started wondering if they could start tipping machines on their sides and see if any money had rolled underneath them when someone spoke to them and broke them out of their train of thought, "Hey, are you alright?" Stevonnie looked up from their bent over position and saw the familiar curly ginger hair mohawk and stretched out earlobes of the other Big Donut employee, Lars.

"Oh, Lars." they said, rising back to their feet. "Yeah, I'm fine, just a little-"

"Wait a minute." Lars said his face reddening as he spoke. "You're that person whom I gave a free donut to all those months ago."

"Um, yeah that's me." Stevonnie said, unsure what to make of Lars's reaction.

Lars let out a stifled yelp as he took a step closer to Stevonnie. "Oh, man. I regretted not getting your name then, but now… now I am." He looked at them expectantly and when Stevonnie said nothing, Lars asked, "Um, so what's your name?"

"Oh!" the confused fusion exclaimed. "Right, I'm Stevonnie. It's good to see you again, Lars."

"Stevonnie… That's such a-… Wait." Lars stopped suddenly and cocked an eyebrow at them. "How'd you already know my name?"

"W-well…" Stevonnie stuttered. "I went by the Big Donut just a little while ago and Sa- I mean, the girl working the counter told me it."

"Sadie told you my name?" Lars crossed his arms coolly. "Pfft. She's probably just mad that I got the day off. Bet she said all kinds of mean, made up things about me."

"We didn't really talk about you."

"Oh…" Lars's cool look deflated. He quickly tried to recover. "W-well good. I don't need her gossiping about me behind my back."

"Right…" Stevonnie trailed off, not sure how to end this conversation. "So, um… listen I'm going to start tipping arcade cabinets over to try and find any loose coins. It was good to see you again, Lars. I'll, uh see you later."

They began to walk away but Lars hurriedly called out, "Wait! You don't have any money?"

Stevonnie stopped and turned back towards him. "Yeah, I… sort of forgot to bring any with me." They rubbed the back of their neck in embarrassment. "Kinda stupid I know, but it's been a long morning."

Lars smirked self-assuredly as he reached into his pocket. "Well, then today is your lucky day." He pulled out two rolls of quarters. "I was gonna spend these two babies myself, but I might be convinced to allow someone to split them with me…"

Stevonnie's eyes lit up as Lars finished. "Really? You would that for me?"

"Of course. I mean what kind of-" Stevonnie cut him off by quickly reaching over and snatching one of the quarter rolls. "Um, yeah. You can have one, is what I was saying…"

Stevonnie gazed at the roll of quarters with silent amazement. Video game goodness would not be denied to them this day. "Wow, Lars. Thank you so much."

"Heh. Think nothing of it." Lars responded, trying to sound as cool as possible. Stevonnie quickly, but carefully unrolled the quarters. They grabbed two out of the bundle and with their anticipation almost too much to bear, they slid one, then two quarters into the arcade machines slot. Each coin made a solid, weighty CLUNK sound that instantly amped Stevonnie up to play the game. They then turned their gaze towards the screen, which read one of the greatest things the fusion had seen all day, 'Player 1 Start'" Stevonnie firmly grabbed the control baton and rested their index finger on the consoles singular button. They gritted their teeth and leaned in close as they took control of the games playable hero, Chef Salty Johnathon, as he and Stevonnie both prepared to make some delicious sandwiches.

Lars, meanwhile, stood dumbly behind Stevonnie, watching all this take place. He gazed at them as they played, amazed at the quick flick of their wrists as they moved the Salty Chef in and around obstacles and dodging anthropomorphic foods. Stevonnie for their part, however, barely noticed their onlooker as they were quickly absorbed into the task at hand. For a time, neither Lars nor Stevonnie said anything, but then Lars broke the relative silence. "Uh… so, um…. I… like your hair?" It was a statement, but due to the uncertainty in his voice, it came out as a question.

Not that Stevonnie really noticed. After a few seconds, they fully registered what had been said and in response said only, "Mm? Oh yeah. Thanks." As Stevonnie's attention returned fully back to their game, Lars, red-faced and embarrassed, mumbled something under his breath and skulked away. But once again, Stevonnie didn't really notice. Their attention had already been consumed by their game.

Eventually, Stevonnie's game ended. They had made one too many mistakes and the evil anthropomorphic food overtook Chef Salty Johnathon. And two quarters later, it ended again. And again. And again. And again. Until finally, after another defeat, Stevonnie reached for more quarters, only to find the bits of brown paper that had wrapped them. They were out of money.

Stevonnie sighed, disappointed, but also sat satisfied with their gaming session. They had made it to the high score table, after all. They put in their initials and parted with the arcade machine. They were just beginning to leave the arcade when they remembered Lars. Deciding that it would be in poor manners to leave without say thanks again, Stevonnie began to search the arcade for him. After some looking, they found him playing skee ball.

They approached him and said, "Hey." The teen jumped with surprise, causing him to dropping the ball he was holding. Stevonnie continued, "I was just about to head out, but I just wanted to say, thanks again for the quarters. You're a real lifesaver, Lars."

Stevonnie began to turn and leave, when Lars suddenly called out, "Wait!" Stevonnie turned back around to see what was wrong and Lars was bent over gathering something from the floor behind him. He rose and in his arms was a large bundle of yellow tickets, the kind won from games at the arcade. "Just… can you just wait a second?" he asked as sweat trickled down his forehead and face.

"Um… sure." Stevonnie said as Lars raced off. With him gone, Stevonnie just stood there, waiting for his return. A few minutes passed and the fusion was about to go look for him, when he suddenly returned, with a surprise.

"Here." he said, handing his load to Stevonnie. "I want you to… have… this." He handed them a large, blue colored, stuffed dinosaur, the type of which you can get from the prize counter. Assuming you had enough tickets, anyway.

"Er, wow, Lars." Stevonnie said, unsure what to think of his gift. "You really didn't have to get this for me."

"I know, but… I just… wanted to…" he trailed off as his face began to redden again.

"Well, thank you. For both this and the quarters." Stevonnie positioned they're prized underneath their arm and began to walk for the exit.

"Hey!" Lars called out behind them. "Will, like… will you be around… more…now?"

Stevonnie turned and said reflexively, "Yeah. I think I will be around more often." They gave him a kind smile and waved as they walked out of the arcade.

* * *

It was late now. The sun was setting and between their new dinosaur friend and their bag of clothes, it was now starting to get difficult to carry everything with them. Stevonnie decided it was time to head back home. Maybe by now the Gems were back and they could diffuse. Stevonnie's eyes wandered off to the stuffed animal under their arm. They smirked as they wondered to themselves who would get it, Steven or Connie? Starting to walk towards the other side of the beach and smiling, Stevonnie reflected that, despite how it started, today ended up being a pretty good day. Dare they even say, a fun day. Who would have thought, given how the day began, it was even possible to have a fun day? But, Garnet had been right. Even if it wasn't ideal, they could still be a great experience.

As they approached the steps leading up to Steven's house, they could hear talking coming from within. The Gems were home. Stevonnie quickly made their way up the stairs, eager to share their day with their friends.


	4. Diffusion

Stevonnie entered the beachside home, only to find it empty of any other people. They laid down the bag filled with Steven and Connie's clothes next to the door and then placed their new dinosaur friend on the coffee table by the couch. With the spoils of their day now settled, they glanced around their surroundings, confirming that no one else was in the house. But they could have sworn they heard the Gems talking a minute ago. Stevonnie moved further into the house as they peeked around every bit of furniture looking for the Gems. But there were no Gems in the kitchen. No Gems up in Steven's loft. Not even a tiny shape-shifted Amethyst hiding underneath the coffee table, as she was want to do whenever she wanted to play tricks on one of her fellow Gems. There seemed to be no one here, yet Stevonnie knew they had heard someone talking. The fusion stroked their chin as they tried to think where else the Gems could be hiding. Their eyes drew themselves over the house until they came to rest on the begemmed door that marked where Steven's house ended and the Crystal Temple began.

"That's where they went!" Stevonnie exclaimed as they ran over to the door. Upon arriving at it, they remembered that they couldn't open the door to any of the other Gems rooms. This thought in mind, they rapped their knuckles against the door, however, they immediately regretted the decision as the stone door did not relent to their tender hand. As they held their hurting hand, they were beginning to consider other options when the purple gem on the door began to glow. And then, starting at said gem, two wavy, violet lines drew themselves into either corner of the door diagonally. The lines glow intensified before the two halves of the door receded from each other and into the wall.

Stevonnie peered into the inky blackness beyond the doorway when they got a split-second view of a purple blur rushing towards them, and then colliding into them. The impact caused Stevonnie to fall backward onto their behind while their assailant rubbed her face in pain.

"Ow! Why don't you watch where you're going Pearl-" Amethyst cried out, only to stop when they saw that it wasn't who she thought it was. "Oh! Stevonnie. Sorry about that. I was kinda in a rush." She rushed over Stevonnie's side and helped them up.

"Yeah, I noticed." Stevonnie replied as they dusted off the back of their pants. "Why are you in such a rush?"

"Snacks." Amethyst said simply as she grinned broadly. "Garnet and Peridot are in my room messing with the pyramid, but it was starting to get a little dull so I had to get something to munch on." Amethyst made her way over to the kitchen with Stevonnie following behind.

"The pyramid's here?" Stevonnie asked. "Why?"

Amethyst open the refrigerator and began to dig around in it. "Cause it's easier to for Peridot to tinker with it here than having to take a warp pad to the storage room it was in." Amethyst closed the fridge empty handed, a disappointed look on her face. She made her way over to the cabinets that hung above the counter.

"Okay." Stevonnie responded. "Well, then why is Peridot 'tinkering' with it. We already know it works."

"Yeah, but Peri seems to think that she can use the pyramid to split you apart. Something about reversing the polarity or- Ah, sweet!" Amethyst cut herself off as she exclaimed her excitement. The Gem removed herself from the cabinet and in her hands were ten to twelve of the white frosting packets that came with the toastable pastries that Steven liked to have for breakfast from time to time. "Oh, man. I thought I'd eaten all of these already." She licked her lips in anticipation as she greedily tore open one of the packets and drained its contents into her agape mouth. With one down, she wiped some wayward frosting from the corners of her mouth and asked Stevonnie, "You want one?"

"Uh, no thanks." Stevonnie said. "I already ate." In truth, Stevonnie had started to feel a little peckish, however, seeing Amethyst eat enough processed sugar to kill an average sized kid, killed whatever appetite they had. Trying not to look at the white goo that was being squeezed into Amethyst's mouth, Stevonnie asked, "So why is the pyramid in your room?"

Amethyst placed on the counter another emptied packet as she answered, "Well, there's just so much stuff in my room, right? And we thought, 'Hey if Peridot needs any parts, or whatever, she can probably find them'-" Amethyst stopped suddenly as her eyes widened. "Oh, man." She moaned as she placed her frosting packets on the counter. "I completely forgot… Here, Stevonnie. Come over here." Without even waiting for them to answer, Amethyst grabbed Stevonnie by the wrist and lead them over to the couch. Amethyst then sat down on one of the seats while patting the seat next to her. "Come on. Sit down."

"Uh, Amethyst, what's going on exact-"

"Just sit down." Without another word, Stevonnie did as they were told and sat down next to Amethyst. "Okay." Amethyst said as if she were mentally reviewing a prepared script. "How was your day, Stevonnie?"

The fusion blinked with confusion. "My day? All this was just to ask me about my day?"

"Well, I mean… Yeah?" Amethyst said unassuredly. "Garnet left Pearl and me instructions, that when you came home, we needed to ask you about your day."

"I see." Stevonnie said slowly. "I'm happy to tell you about my day, Amethyst. But why the specific instructions?"

Amethyst blushed slightly as she looked down at the floor. "It's just that… we've been worried about you today, Stevonnie. Essspecily Garnet. She's been in a tizzy ever since the accident."

"'A tizzy?' Are we talking about the same Garnet here?"

"Heh, yeah it can be hard to tell sometimes, but she does have her moments." Amethyst said. "I mean, if Ruby and Sapphire disagree enough, or whatever, they'll diffuse. But Garnet hasn't shown any sign of defusing, which mean the whole G-Squad is worried about you." She looked back up towards Stevonnie. "And just for the record, if someone who can see the future is worried about you, that's usually not a good sign."

Stevonnie scooted over closer to their friend and put an arm around her shoulders. "I appreciate the thought, Amethyst, But you guys don't need to worry about me. I feel great! In fact, I've felt great all day." Amethyst still looked despondent, so Stevonnie continued, "And besides, you said Peridot was working on making the pyramid diffuse me, right? Well, if anyone can do that, it's definitely Peridot, okay?"

Amethyst nodded as she wiped the corners of her eyes. "Alright." She looked over at Stevonnie with an earnest grin. "Why don't we put away the serious stuff for now?"

Stevonnie returned her grin with one of their own. "Agreed."

* * *

"So I wanted to thank him for the roll of quarters again before I left, right? And I found him at the skee ball table with a huge bundle of tickets at his feet."

"Tickets? Tickets for what?"

"Oh, right. Well, you can win tickets from some of the games at the arcade. And if you get enough, you can trade them in for a prize."

"What prize did Lars get then?"

"You're looking at it. He ran off for a moment and then came back with this blue dinosaur in his arms."

"Ohh… I wondered if that had always been there or not."

"But the real shocker was when he just handed it to me and said he wanted me to have it."

"Really? Man, if I won a prize, I'd keep that sucker. Why'd he give it to you?"

"I… don't really know. Maybe Steven's right and Lars is just nicer than he seems."

Before the pair could continue their conversation, the door to the house swung open and through it walked in their fellow Crystal Gem, Pearl.

"Hi, Pearl." Stevonnie greeted as they turned in their seat to face her.

"Why, hello Stevonnie." Pearl returned perkily. "How has your day been?"

Stevonnie chuckled as they answered. "There's no need for that, Pearl. Amethyst has it covered."

"Hmm? I'm not sure what you mean." Pearl lied poorly. "I'm just asking about your day."

Amethyst and Stevonnie both elbowed each other and giggled to themselves as Stevonnie said, "Alright, Pearl. If you say so. And, to answer your question, today's been great. I had some donuts, got a new outfit, and had some fun at Funland Arcade."

"Well, that's nice." Pearl responded. "Though… where did that come from?" She pointed at the stuffed dinosaur on the coffee table.

"Lars won it for them." Amethyst answered before Stevonnie could.

"Ohh… that's nice…. Uh, which one is Lars again?" Pearl asked.

"Tall, lanky guy with giant holes in his earlobes."

"Really?" Amethyst questioned. "I thought we were talking about the short, light-haired person."

Stevonnie shook their head. "No, that's Sadie."

Pearl sighed while shaking her head. "I swear, humans can be hard to tell apart sometimes."

"And I'm sure they wouldn't be saying similar things if they met a bunch of Gems." Stevonnie replied snarkily as they moved over on the couch, so as to open up a seat between themselves and Amethyst. "My turn now. How was your day, Pearl?"

"Busy." Pearl said, taking the offered seat. "I've spent most of the day back in the archival room, looking through its databanks to see if there's any information about the pyramid that could help us in our current predicament."

"And was there?" Stevonnie asked.

"Not that I saw." Pearl responded. "The only real thing of interest was the documented history of the device, which serves as a good example of Homeworlds views on fusion."

"What do you mean?" Stevonnie asked.

Well," Pearl began to explain, "According to the databanks records, the pyramid was made in the last days of the Rebellion. Apparently, the best minds on Homeworld were scrambling, trying to come up with something to stem Rose's advance." Pearl looked more than a little proud as she said the last part.

"So… Homeworlds big idea was to make fusions who can't ever diffuse?" Amethyst asked sarcastically.

"In a sense." Pearl responded. "According to the notes on the databank, the program was in its early stages and the pyramid was the only fruit it ever bore. They were trying to create stronger fusions and they thought the restricting diffusion might be the answer." She shook her head, a look of pity in her eyes. "Like I said, it's a very 'Homeworld' outlook on fusion. Trying to use a machine for what should come naturally."

"Geeze, Pearl." Amethyst cringed. "When you say it like that, it sounds really weird."

"Hence, why Homeworld has never really understood fusion."

This didn't come from Pearl, instead coming from the large, red leader of the Gems, Garnet as she walked through the temple's door, with Peridot following closely behind her.

"Hey, Garnet." Stevonnie greeted.

"Hello again, Stevonnie." Garnet returned. She then turned her head to look at the small green Gem behind her. "Say hello, Peridot." she instructed as she pushed the nervous Gem out from behind her.

Peridot looked extremely uncomfortable as she was pushed to the forefront. And the uncomfortableness only seemed to increase once Stevonnie looked at her. "Ah, h-hello, Steve- I mean, Stevonnie." she stuttered.

Stevonnie only smiled warmly and replied, "Hello to you too, Peridot. It's good to meet you."

The green Gem's cheeks shone brightly.

"Hey, Peri." Amethyst chimed in. "Why don't you tell us about the progress you've made with the pyramid."

"Oh, yes. I can do that." Peridot replied, her voice growing in confidence as she switched to a topic she was more comfortable with. "Because it's relatively old tech, I've made significant progress with reverse-engineering the pyramid machine. I have also been fortunate that most of the parts I've needed to replace or change outright have been able to be found in Amethyst's room."

"That's a minor miracle itself." Pearl fake-whispered under her breath.

"Hey!" Amethyst cried. "I told you, I have a system."

"So, when do you think the pyramid will be ready?" Stevonnie asked, ignoring Pearl and Amethyst.

"Shortly." Peridot replied. "It just needs a few more tweaks and I believe it will be ready to operate."

"Wow, Peridot." Stevonnie marveled. "That's incredible."

"What can I say?" Peridot shrugged nonchalantly. "I'm really good at what I do."

"I'll say." Stevonnie said happily. "Without your help, Peridot, this would have been a lot harder to do. So, thanks for that."

Peridot stammered as her face began to glow again. "Wow, thanks…" she shuffled her feat in silence before saying, "I-I need to get back to work, so…" She began walking back towards the temple's door before she had even finished. Once she reached the door, however, she just stood there, silently fuming.

"Here, I gotcha, Peridot." Amethyst said as she rose from her seat and rushed over to Peridot. Once next to her, Amethyst shone the light of her gem onto the door, which then drew the familiar purple lines across it as it opened. Peridot quickly hustled through the open doorway and Amethyst turned on her heel and said, "I'll go on ahead with her, so she doesn't get lost on her way to the pyramid. Again." She smirked as she about-faced and followed after Peridot. However, unlike before, the door remained open.

"Well." Pearl said after a fashion. "She handled that better than I thought."

"Agreed." Garnet replied simply.

"Who, Peridot?" Stevonnie asked.

"Oh, yes." Pearl said. "This was all a new experience for her, and I think she handled it very well, all things considered."

"Handled what, exactly? Messing with the pyramid?"

"Meeting a fusion between two people she's already met." Garnet corrected. "She's met me, yes, but she's never met Ruby and Sapphire. Likewise, she's met Connie and Steven, but she had never met you, before now."

"Huh." Stevonnie said. "I guess you're right. Peridot is pretty inexperienced with fusion. I can see how meeting me would make her kinda nervous."

"You should have seen her after the incident in the archival room." Pearl chuckled. "After we told her who you were, she immediately had all kinds of questions about the intracity's of fusion. All directed at Garnet, of course."

Stevonnie grinned as she looked towards Garnet, who returned their grin with one of her own. "Of course." they said.

"But the questions are a good sign." Garnet picked-up. "Unlike the Gems who made the pyramid, Peridot is willing to learn about fusion."

Pearl nodded. "That's right. I must admit, I never really thought I would see the day when a Homeworld Gem-"

"Former-Homeworld Gem." Stevonnie corrected.

"-Former-Homeworld Gem is trying to learn about fusion."

"It does the spirit well." Garnet concurred.

Stevonnie was about to add something when Amethyst poked her head out of the temple doorway. "Hey uh, Pearl?" she asked carefully. "We kinda need your help in here. I can't find any of the parts we scavenged up."

"Amethyst…" Pearl chided as she pinched the bridge of her nose. "I had all the piles individually labeled."

"Yeah, I know." the purple Gem grinned embarrassedly. "But I kinda ran through them… Once… Or twice."

Pearl gave no vocal response, only rising from her seat as she marched over to the doorway while giving Amethyst a look that would kill lesser Gems. They both went through, the door again remaining open behind them.

There was a beat of silence before Garnet spoke, "That's the third time today Pearl is having to reorganize those piles of scavenged parts." She took her seat, not on the couch, but back on the coffee table. "I swear, it seems like sometimes, Amethyst's room is designed to remove all order in anything that enters it."

"I dunno." Stevonnie replied, grinning. "Pearl seems unaffected by it."

"Well, even a room as powerful Amethyst's would have its limits."

The two laughed together, and after they had settled, a comfortable silence hung in the air.

"So how was your day, Stevonnie?" Garnet asked finally.

"You're the third person to ask me that since I got home." Stevonnie replied.

Garnet smiled sheepishly. "Sorry, was it that obvious?"

"Amethyst filled me in. Apparently I've been a main topic of conversation today."

"You could say that." Garnet sighed. She was silent as she bent over in her seat and seemed to focus on her folded hands. For awhile no one spoke, but then Garnet, barely above a whisper, spoke. "I'm sorry, Stevonnie. This is my fault."

"Your fault?" Stevonnie asked, feeling genuine confusion, "How could this possibly be your fault?" Before she answered, Stevonnie heard the sound of a single tear hit the wooden floor.

"In the archival room." Garnet spoke, slowly and deliberately. "When Steven and Connie were knocked into the pyramid, they called out for me to let them out. And… I didn't." She looked up from her hands and Stevonnie could see the trail that the tear had drawn across the Gems face. "In that moment, my future vision showed me all the terrible punishments the Blue Beetle could inflict upon them and… I decided it was safest to leave them in the pyramid…" She now turned fully towards Stevonnie. "I… was only doing what I thought was best for them."

"That sounds familiar." Stevonnie said neutrally.

"Yes, it does." Garnet replied. "I didn't have enough faith in them, just like the three of us didn't have enough faith in them to bring them on a real mission. And because of that…" She trailed off, as if what she was about to say was too painful for her to bear.

"Garnet," Stevonnie began. "I… you can't compare this with… the lie about the mission. The Beetle was a threat and you assessed the situation, using all the tools available to you, and then you made a snap decision." Garnet didn't react to what they were saying, so they reached out and took her hands into theirs. They held them tight, feeling her gems in the palm of their own hands, as they continued, "You acted in the manner that you thought would keep Steven and Connie safe. There's no shame in that."

"It's not just that." Garnet said quietly. "…I was… so elated when I met you, Stevonnie. I had seen Steven and Connie growing closer, but it saddened me that they would never be able to fuse. Never be able to share that experience." She wore a sad smile as a new tear trail rolled from under her shades. "But then you came through the door and I knew immediately who you were. It… made me so happy to meet you." She looked away from them. "But now, after all this? After being forced to fuse together, I shutter to think about how they must feel about fusion now."

Stevonnie squeezed the hands of their friend as they spoke. "You don't need to. You asked me after I woke up, how I felt. And that amazing feeling hasn't ebbed at all. I still feel like, no matter what action I take, there's someone right next to me, helping me along. I feel like, even when I'm just walking down the sidewalk, there's someone with me and we're just enjoying each others company." Garnet looked back at them, her mouth twisted into a sad grimace. "I feel like… no matter what happens, I can handle what comes next, because I know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that I am not alone."

Garnet smiled with a strange mixture of happiness, sadness, and pride. "I couldn't have said it better myself." She freed one of her hands from Stevonnie's grasp and cupped their cheek. "Fusion is important. I don't want this to ruin it for you."

"Ruin it? Did you see the dinosaur next to you?"

They both laughed, as the melancholy drained from the room.

* * *

As Stevonnie followed Garnet in and around the piles of… stuff that Amethyst stored in her room, they had to wonder what exactly her "system" was, and if it was true when she claimed it allowed her to know where and what everything is. Still, despite that, Stevonnie had to admit the room had a nice look to it. Everything was tinted purple, appropriately enough, and the geode formations that made up the majority of the room's walls were very pretty to look at. But no matter what, Stevonnie's thoughts always returned to the piles and piles of items that Amethyst had collected over the years.

"Through here." Garnet indicated at two particularly close piles. "They should be just beyond here." Garnet carefully slipped past the two piles and Stevonnie followed her. On the other side was a rare clearing with only a smattering of items around and most looked like they were mechanical or electronic in nature. At the center of the clearing stood the pyramid, and around it were Pearl, Amethyst, and Peridot.

"Hey, guys!" Stevonnie greeted as the pair approached. They eyed the pyramid, trying to find evidence of Peridot tinkering with it. However, for the most part, the pyramid looked exactly the same as it had in the archival room. The only real difference was that now, there were several cables running from the base of the pyramid and were hooked up to, what looked like the generator Connie's father had, in case of emergencies.

"Hey, DT!" Amethyst returned, as she ran over to meet them. "How do you like my room?"

"It's pretty much all that I expected." Stevonnie replied. "Also, DT?"

"Yeah, Double Trouble, of course." Amethyst said, poking Stevonnie just above their gem. "Ya got Steven and Connie in there, right? That sounds like Double Trouble to me."

"Honestly, Amethyst." Pearl said as she joined them. "I don't understand why you can't just call people and things by their proper names."

Amethyst shrugged. "Well, sometimes I can think up better names."

"You're the one who names Stevonnie in the first place!" Pearl retorted.

"Oh, yeah. You're right." She thought for a moment. "Eh, I still prefer DT."

Pearl said nothing in response, only grumbling under her breath.

"Well, I like your nickname, Amethyst." Stevonnie said.

"Ha! See Pearl?" Amethyst asked. "Some people can appreciate my genius."

Pearl was about to respond, but Stevonnie cut them off by calling over to Peridot, "Hey, Peridot! Why don't you come over?"

Peridot gave no response at first, only continuing to poke and prod at the pyramid, but after awhile she turned from her task and said simply, "It's ready."

Stevonnie could hardly believe their ears. "Really?" they asked as they walked over to the green Gem. "It's ready to diffuse me?"

"Of course." Peridot replied, with more than a hint of smugness. "This pyramid is ancient tech, taking it apart and putting it back together is about as simple as maintenance on a class 4 power provider."

Stevonnie only responded with a blank look.

"That's… that's a really easy task to do." the slightly irked Gem explained.

"Right, right. I figured… Sooo… the pyramid's ready?"

"It is." Peridot answered. "Despite some of the… workarounds I had to use, it should be ready. All you have to do is get inside and I'll handle the rest."

Stevonnie nodded as they briskly walked over to where Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl still stood. "Did you hear?" they asked.

"We did." Garnet responded simply. "It's time to put an end to today's activities."

"Yeah. I guess it is." Stevonnie said. "Listen, guys, I know this whole thing wasn't planned or anything. But it was still really good to see you three again."

"Aw, shucks." Amethyst said, blushing just slightly. "It was good to see you too, Stevonnie."

Pearl smiled warmly. "It was. And it says a lot that you mean that, despite the day's circumstances."

Garnet smiled as well, however, her smile had a hint of pride in it. "You were a great experience today, Stevonnie. You should be proud."

Stevonnie found that they couldn't say anything in response, so taken aback by the Gems comments. But after a few moments, Peridot's voice called out, "Hey! Are you ready or not? This power provider won't last forever!"

Stevonnie turned back towards Peridot. "Alright, I'm coming." They jogged back to the pyramid, turned back as they did to wave one last goodbye to the Gems, who all waved back. Once at the pyramid, Peridot opened the door. Stevonnie found they now had to crouch down in order to get into the machine. As they entered, they turned towards Peridot and said, "It was good to meet you, Peridot. I hope we get to see each other again."

Peridot looked embarrassed by the farewell. "Of course." she said awkwardly. "I'm sure we'll be able to meet again, next time you fuse."

Stevonnie said nothing else, only continuing all the way into the pyramid. Once they were in, Peridot shut the door behind and the eerily familiar silence fell upon them. They sat in the middle of the pyramid waiting. As before, the blue tint of the pyramid made it difficult to tell what was going on out of it. Stevonnie thought they could see Peridot over by the electric generator when a humming sound began to fill the enclosed space. The fusion looked up and saw light beginning to gather above them. It was happening. The pyramid was activated. The light began to grow in intensity as Stevonnie tried to brace themselves as best they could. They thoughts were lingering on the day's events and how everything went so much better than their frantic awakening would seem to foretell and-

Light flashed, engulfing them.

For a long time, they felt nothing.

And then, everything.

Connie was sitting against the cool pyramid wall. Her ears were ringing and she felt like she had, until very recently, been spinning around in circles.

"Connie? Are you okay?" a voice called out to her.

"Yeah, I think so Steven." Connie answered as she slowly opened her eyes. At first, everything was a blueish blur, but slowly, focus returned to the world. She raised her head to face her friend when she received a sight she was not quite ready for. "Steven!" she cried out. "You don't have any clothes?!"

Steven said nothing in return at first, only confusedly looking down at himself. However, he saw, or didn't see what Connie had. In the diffusion, Connie had received the shirt and pants Stevonnie had been wearing, leaving poor Steven with nothing but his underwear. Upon realizing all this, Steven crossed his arms and drew his legs in closer against himself, as his face reddened with embarrassment. "Oh, man…" he moaned to himself.

Suddenly, the pyramid door began to open. Connie drew the several sizes too big shirt closer to her.

"Hey, you two." Amethyst said, seemingly unaffected by the two's lack of appropriate clothing. "You'll need these." She tossed in the plastic bag containing the pairs clothes. The Gem then left and shut the door behind her. For a moment, neither of them said anything or made any kind of movement.

"Here." Connie said finally as she pushed the bag over to Steven with her foot. "Why don't you change first."

"Alright." Steven said, still looking very uncomfortable. "But you have to close your eyes while I do."

"Okay, Steven." She covered her eyes with her hands. "How's this?"

"That's good." Steven replied. Connie could then hear him beginning to rustle around in the bag. After a few minutes of silent dressing, Steven said, "Alright, Connie. You can open your eyes now."

Connie did, and she saw Steven, now dressed as he usually was, sans sandals. Connie gave a small smile. "Back to normal now, huh?"

Steven smiled back and nodded. "Yeah." He turned around and banged on the pyramid door. "I'll close the door behind me so you can dress in privacy… Or kinda privacy… I'll tell the Gems not to look over here."

Connie couldn't help but feel a warmth rush over her face. "Thanks, Steven."

The pyramid door opened, though by who, Connie couldn't tell. Steven went through the doorway and shut it behind him. Once the blue blur that Connie knew was Steven had gone over to join the other blue blurs that Connie assumed were the Gems, she reached over and grabbed the bag. She removed her purple training outfit and, with just a slight hesitation, removed the 'Universal Experience' shirt and jean shorts and quickly dresses back into her clothes, though like Steven, sans shoes. She then put Stevonnie's clothes into the plastic bag and took it with her as she knocked on the pyramid's door. A blue blur outside the pyramid rushed over to her and opened the door.

"M'lady." Steven said as he opened it and made an over the top bow.

"Why, thank you, sir." Connie giggled as she stepped out of the pyramid. The pair then mozied over to the waiting Gems, all of whom had varying sizes of smiles on their faces.

"Well, Connie." Pearl said. "It's good to see your back."

"How do you feel?" Garnet asked, without waiting for Connie to respond to Pearl.

"Umm… Not bad, I guess." she answered. "I'm a little woozy."

"That's to be expected." Garnet replied. "You two were fused much longer than you ever had been before. A little disorientation is to be expected."

"Yeah, plus we needed some outside help pulling you two apart." Amethyst added.

"Oh, yeah." Steven said as if he suddenly recalled something. "Thanks for the help with the pyramid, Peridot."

Peridot said nothing, only turning away, unsure how to handle all this praise she had gotten lately.

However, it was now Connie's turn to make a realization. "Oh no!" she cried. "What time is it?!"

"Err… night?" Amethyst offered.

"My parents probably expected me home by now." Connie held the sides of her head in a rising panic. "If I don't get home soon…"

"It's okay, Connie." Steven said comfortingly. "We can ride Lion back to your house."

Connie felt calmer with this idea. "Yeah, okay. Lion would be able to get me home in a matter of seconds." She paused before continuing, "Alright, well let's go now, Steven. The sooner I get home, the less likely my parents are to ground me, or something."

"Alright, you two." Garnet said. "Steven, you take Connie. But I want you to come right back as soon as you do."

"I will, I will…" he grumbled. "That only happened once…"

"All it takes is once." Garnet replied, smirking.

"Here, I'll take those." Pearl said as she relieved Connie of the clothes Stevonnie had been wearing. "I'll make sure these are washed and ready to go for when Stevonnie decides to visit again."

"Thanks, Pearl." Steven said as he began to part with the group. "Come on, Connie. Let's get you home."

Connie started following her friend as she turned back and waved at the Gems, who all waved back.

"We'll see you, later Connie." Garnet called after them.

"Have a safe evening, now." Pearl added.

"Hope your parents go easy on you!" Amethyst wished after them.

Connie turned around one more time, "Thanks, everyone! I'll see you later!" And with that, the Gems disappeared behind the piles of Amethyst's stuff as both she and Steven made their way to the room's exit.

* * *

All at once, Connie's house and the surrounding houses shot into view. Steven held tightly onto Lion so as not to be knocked off while teleporting, like he had been in the past.

"Good Lion." Steven encouraged once they had come to a stop. He patted his pet lion on the head, however, Lion seemed nonplussed by the praise. Steven and Connie slid off of their mount as Steven said, "Well, here we are."

"Yup." Connie responded as she brushed a few stray hairs out of her face. Silence hung in the air as neither seemed to know what to say.

Finally, Steven broke it, "Connie?" he asked. "Did… did you really have fun today?"

Connie seemed surprised at his question, but still answered quickly, "Of course I did, Steven." She took a step closer to him. "Today was great, despite how it started." She smiled sincerely and Steven returned the same.

"Alright, good." Steven said. "I'm glad."

"Well, I better get inside. I'm already late and I know my Mom is going to let me have it." She paused. I'll see you…" she trailed off before suddenly lunging at Steven and wrapping him in a tight hug. After being momentarily surprised, Steven returned his friends embrace. After a minute, they parted and, after a just slightly awkward good-bye, Connie left, entering her house.

Steven remounted Lion, and with just a word of instruction, Lion roared and suddenly, they were both back at the beach in front of the temple. Steven slid off of Lion for the last time tonight and, after bidding his animal buddy a good-night, climbed the stairs to the house and entered through the door. The house was empty again, with none of the Gems around. But Steven wasn't really too concerned. It had been a long day and he was tired. He climbed the stairs to his loft and changed into his pajamas. He then crawled into bed and lied there for a moment, thinking about the day that had passed. As he contemplated, he felt a slight twinge in his stomach, where his gem was. It didn't hurt really, it was just uncomfortable. He scrunched his face before rolling over onto his side and, after a few minutes, the twinge disappeared and Steven slowly drifted off to sleep.


	5. Desperate Help

Steven awoke gradually. He could hear voices talking far away. They sounded mad and anxious, one spat words laced in venom, while the other sounded like they were about two seconds from collapsing in on themselves. The voices continued as Steven could begin to hear sounds come closer to him as sleeps long fingers lost their grip on the young boy.

"Steven? Steven, are you up?" Steven could feel a firm, warm hand shaking his shoulder. Steven slowly rolled over to face his awakener and saw that it was none other than his ever dutiful father, Greg Universe. "Hey, buddy." he greeted lightly, though his face displayed a very different mindset.

"Dad?" Steven asked, as he groggily sat up. "What's going on?"

"Uh, well…" Greg mumbled. He absent-mindedly scratched his cheek as he thought about what to say to his son. "Well, you see Steven…" Greg trailed off as he began murmuring to himself under his breath. Steven took the opportunity to turn and look out the big window next to his bed. The deep darkness of night still hung heavy outside. He could see the full moon shining brightly in the sky. It looked not unlike a single eye in the sky, perched in such a way as to observe Steven and see what he would do.

Suddenly, breaking Steven's train of thought came a piercing voice from down the stairs. "What's taking so long up there?!" The voice, despite sounding strained and hurried, seemed familiar to Steven. He poked his head around his father's figure and saw, standing at the bottom of the stairs with her arms crossed and a stern, forceful look on her face, stood Dr. Maheswaran, Connie's clearly perturbed mother.

"N-nothing! Just waking him up." Greg called out behind him. He turned back towards his son, the anxious unease in his face seemingly settling even deeper.

"Dad, what's wrong?" Steven asked again, this time now fully awake. "Why is Connie's mom…" Steven trailed off as he realized what the only reason Dr. Maheswaran would be here at this late hour. Something was wrong with Connie.

"Well," Greg began shakily, "Connie's mother was apparently driving all over Beach City looking for the temple and finally she just happened to drive in front of the car wash as I was leaving to head back to the van after going inside to take a pit stop, if ya know what I mean." Steven nodded solemnly and Greg continued. "Well, almost before her car came to a stop, she lept out of it and began to… uh, calmly ask, where you and the Gems were."

"Why does she need us?" Steven asked as his stomach began to tie itself in knots.

"Something is… well, Mrs. Maheswaran says that Connie's like, sick or something. She thinks it has something to do with why she was out so late yesterday." Greg looked like he wanted to ask Steven questions about what happened the previous day, but wisely decided not to, at least within earshot of Dr. Maheswaran. "So… where are the Gems?"

"Umm… I don't know." Steven admitted. "I'm not really sure what they do at night."

Greg gave an exhausted sigh. "Of course not…. Well, could they be in the temple?"

"Maybe…" Steven replied slowly. "But I can't open the door to any of their rooms."

"Ugh…" Greg groaned as he rested his face in his hands. "They really don't want to make this easy, do they?"

"Has he told where those 'Gems' are?!" It was Dr. Maheswaran, her voice cracking with panic.

He hesitated to answer, so Steven took the opportunity to do so himself. "Uh, Dr. Maheswaran?" Steven got out from his bed and walked to the stairs down from his loft. Dr. Maheswaran was still standing at the foot of the stairs, looking up to see what the two Universe's were doing.

"Steven?" the worried mother asked, some of the edge leaving her voice. "Where are your guardians?"

"They're… off working night jobs." Steven concocted quickly. "To help Dad pay for… uh, food and stuff. They won't be back until morning."

"I see…" she turned away as she began reaching into her pocket. "I knew this was a bad idea… Never should have let her talk me into it…"

"Talked into what?" Steven asked. "Is some-… What's going on?"

Dr. Maheswaran has pulled out her cell phone and was in the process of dialing a number. "It's Connie. A few hours ago, I woke up to her moaning in pain." She had finished dialing and held the phone to her ear. "I examined her, as best I could, but I couldn't find anything wrong with her. But as time went on, the pain increased. I was about to call an ambulance when she told me to find you and the Gems. She said you could help her." She took the phone from her ear and angrily looked at it. "Why is there no cell reception here?!"

"Listen, Mrs-, I mean Dr. Maheswaran?" Greg broke his silence. "No offense, but I still think the Gems are going to be the best help for Connie."

The quickly deteriorating doctor, however, rubbed her eyes as she placed her phone back in her pocket. "Connie can't wait until morning to be looked at. She needs help now."

Silence descended upon the three as each thought about the situation they found themselves in. Finally, it was Steven who broke it. "I'll go." Both his father and Connie's mother looked at him intently. "I might be able to help her."

Both parents paused, before Dr. Maheswaran replied, "I'm sorry, Steven, but I'm not quite sure what you could do to help her."

"W-well…" Steven started, "Um, you see, something… happened to me and Connie yesterday." Steven spoke slowly and carefully, picking his words in such a way so as not to bring up the F word. "We were helping the Gems explore a cave and Connie and I were… caught in a machine that… did something to us." Steven gulped, hoping that what he was saying wouldn't panic Connie's frantic mother. "I don't think I suffered any effects, but Connie… might have. So if anyone can help, I think it's the Gems or me."

Neither parent spoke for a long time, both maintaining their stares on the young boy. Though, if nothing else, Dr. Maheswaran didn't seem like she was panicking. After awhile and with a certain degree of weariness, she asked, "Do you think you can do anything for her, Steven?"

"If Connie needs help, I'll do whatever I can."

She said nothing in return for a time as if she were weighing her options. But she eventually turned towards Greg and asked, "Can you follow me home? If Steven thinks he can help Connie…" She trailed off as her eyes traveled came to rest on the screen door leading outside.

"Yeah, sure," Greg responded, somewhat unsure of what his son had up his sleeve. "We should probably go now." Despite what he said, though,the dutiful father made a detour to the other side of the loft where Steven's jacket was hanging. "Here, guy." he said, handing it to Steven. "Go ahead and put this on. We don't need you catching a cold-" Greg cut himself off quickly as if mentioning a lesser sickness than what they were currently dealing with, would earn the ire of Dr. Maheswaran.

The doctor, however, said nothing, only exiting out the door, presumably heading back to her car. Steven began to follow her when his father caught him by the shoulder. "Woah, hang on a minute, Steven." Greg said as he pulled his son back towards him. "Listen, what you said about you and Connie being trapped in a machine. Did… did that really happen?" Steven was silent, only nodding his confirmation. "Oh, boy. This might be a lot more serious than I thought. I mean, I thought this had to do with you and her being fused for so long yesterday."

"Uh… well, you see Dad, that's kinda all related." Steven then explained everything that had happened the previous day, the pyramid, not being able to diffuse, the day Stevonnie had, and how Peridot reverse-engineered the pyramid to diffuse them. His father said nothing during his explanation. "So… yeah. That's the truth about yesterday. Stevonnie… We lied to you about what happened because we didn't want you to freak out or anything."

Greg responded simply, "Steven… I really wish you would have told me that. Or, that you had Stevonnie tell me that, or however it works."

"I know, Dad. And I promise, in the future I'll be more honest about-"

A piercing sound of a car horn honking from outside interrupted the father-son heart to heart. Dr. Maheswaran was getting impatient.

"Alright, we'll save this for later. Let's go before she leaves without us." Greg said opening the door for Steven to exit out. The two left through the door and Steven saw both Dr. Maheswaran's car and his father's van parked in the sand in front of the temple. The cars engine was already revving and the good doctor watched as the two of them climbed into the van. Steven had barely fastened his seatbelt before Dr. Maheswaran began driving away and Greg began to quickly start the van and follow her. They drove away, the temple rapidly shrinking in the distance. Steven twiddled with the zipper on his jacket as he tried to think of what could be wrong with his best friend and silently wishing the Gems were coming with them.

* * *

Connie felt like she was going to die. Perhaps that was hyperbole. Maybe she didn't know what she was talking about, but as the pain that had started in her abdomen began to spread through her being, Connie did truly think that this was going to be her last night alive.

 _Don't think like that! Steven and the Gems will be able to help._

The thought calmed her slightly, however, it did nothing for the feeling of anguish the young girl felt. She clamped her eyes shut as she slowly reached over to her forehead with the back of her hand. Her forehead felt warm and clammy to the touch. She was running a fever, though how high of one, she didn't know. Her hand dropped back to her side with a muted thud. She wanted to get out of the bed. The sheets she laid on were drenched in sweat, but Connie had already tried to get up and when she did, she was almost immediately knocked back down by a sudden rush of nausea. She hated feeling like she was going to throw up, but ever since she had tried to get up, the feeling had settled into her stomach and seemed right at home with the bolts of pain that now shot through her system.

Connie felt like she was going to die…

"Dear? How are you doing?" Connie's father poked his head through the door. Connie couldn't see him, but the sound of his voice told her all she needed to know about his current mental state. The young girl said nothing in return, couldn't say anything in return. Her entire body ached and the thought of speaking only caused it to hurt more. "Do… Can I get you anything, or…?" Her father sounded unsure of himself, but that was probably natural. His wife, the talented and distinguished doctor couldn't do anything for her, so what could a lowly security guard do?

Connie was about to try speaking, despite the pain, when she heard voices downstairs. "Upstairs, the room at the end of the hallway." she could hear her mom say.

"Your mother's home." her dad confirmed. "I'll go and-" he was cut off as he made room for someone to come into her room. And it was someone Connie was both very happy to see and at the same time, mortified that he was seeing her like this.

"Hi, Connie." Steven greeted as if the two had just passed each other walking down the street.

 _No. That's not quite right. I can hear an edge in his voice. He's worried._

"H-hi, Stev-Steven." she stuttered quietly. As anticipated, even the simple act of talking caused the pain to intensify. Connie had to close her eyes tight as she endured the fresh shots of pain that resonated within her.

"Oh, man. This really doesn't look good." Another voice said, though another familiar one. It was Mr. Universe, Steven's father.

"No, it doesn't. That's what I told you." This voice belonged to her mother. "Dear?" her voice lightened as if a switch had been flipped. "How are you doing?"

Connie said nothing, so her father spoke up for her, "About the same as when you left. She's stopped talking. I think speaking makes the pain worse." He paused. "Uh, didn't any of Steven's guardians come?"

"No, they're working some kind of night job." Her mother replied. "They wouldn't have gotten home until morning so just Steven came."

"The Gems didn't co-" Connie winced, as she spoke.

"It's alright, honey." Her mother's voice grew louder as she drew closer. "Don't talk." She paused. "Steven, can you see what's wrong with her?"

"Uh… well… what, uh… what are her symptoms?" Steven asked. Connie guessed he was trying to sound as doctorly as possible.

"Well, just before midnight, My husband and I woke up to hear Connie moaning in pain. She told us that there was a pain in her stomach, about where her bellybutton is. And as the night progressed, the pain grew until she couldn't even sit up."

"I see…" Steven said noncommittally. Even with her eyes closed, Connie could still tell Steven leaned in close to her. "Connie," he whispered. "I… I think this might have something to do with the pyramid." That was certainly her guess as well, even though she hadn't told her parents about the fusion incident and it seemed Steven hadn't either. "I don't know what to do to help you, but the Gems will. But I won't know where to find them until morning…"

Connie opened her eyes slowly, the light in the dim room stinging them just slightly. Steven was indeed right next to her, dressed in what looked like his jacket and pajamas. "Steven…" she whispered, so as to minimize the pain. "We… need… to fuse."

"Fuse!?" Steven cried out, forgetting to whisper. "B-but what if that just makes you worse?!"

"You… said yourself… that the Gems… need… to help." Connie labored over her words. "I can't… get up… now. But, fused… we can… go… back to… the temple."

"Fuse?" Her mother came to the bedside and looked intently at the two. "What's getting fused?"

Connie was about to answer when Steven instead interjected, " , the Gems are the ones who can help Connie right now. We need to get her to the temple."

"Why? So she can 'fuse' with something?"

"Er… no, not exactly." Steven replied.

Her mother mumbled under her breath before saying. "I knew this was a bad idea. Connie doesn't need some kind of 'new age crystal healing'. She needs to be in a hospital. I'm calling an ambulance." She paused as she rifled through her pockets. "My phones in the kitchen… Connie," her voice lightened again. "I'm going to go downstairs to get you an ambulance to take you to the ER. I'll be right back." She began walking towards the door when she stopped short of her husband. "Doug, grab one of the overnight hospital bags from downstairs." Her father agreed and left with her, leaving only Steven and his dad in the room with Connie, though not for much longer.

"Hey, Steven." Greg Universe said. "I'm… gonna go start the van. Say goodbye to Connie and then we should probably go."

Steven didn't say anything at first, only looking sad and downtrodden. "Alright, dad." he said finally. And with that, Steven's father also left them alone.

"Steven…" Connie croaked. "We… need the… Gems."

"I know." Steven earnestly replied. "But how are we going to convince your parents?"

"We won't… Stevonnie will…"

"Stevonnie? Do… do you think that will work?" Connie said nothing more, only nodding her confirmation. However, Steven still seemed unsure. Connie grabbed his hands and held them tightly. This strengthened his resolve and he said, "Alright." He thought for a moment. "You can't get up and dance, so how are we going to fuse?"

Without saying anything, Connie began leading Steven in a simple hand dance that she had learned in the second grade. It was easy to follow and Steven did so very well before finally the two were moving perfectly in sync with each other. As the dance finished, Connie could actually feel the pain begin to lessen. She began to feel confident that she, Steven, and the Gems would be able to find a way to help her. But most of all, for the first time since waking up with this immense crippling pain, she didn't feel alone.

* * *

The feeling that struck Stevonnie first was nausea. Not the best feeling anytime, but it's especially not great just after you fused and all your senses are realigning themselves. They kneeled on the ground where, just a few seconds ago, Steven had stood, trying to gather their thoughts. All they needed to do was stand up, turn around, wait for Connie's mother to return, and then just explain who they were and… what fusion was… and… that the Gems could…

Stevonnie gulped, as their nerves tightened. This might be a harder sell than they might have hoped.

"Connie?" Dr. Maheswaran called as her voice grew closer. "I just called an ambulance, but unfortunately, it's going to be a little while before they get here." She rounded the corner into her daughter's room. "So we-" She stopped short almost immediately after seeing the strange person kneeling in front of her daughter's bed. "Who…. who…" She could only get out a single word.

Stevonnie stood up and turned around, bracing themselves for the explanation that was about to come. "Well," they began. "My name's Stevonnie. And… this is fusion."

"Fu-… fusion?" Dr. Maheswaran sputtered. "Where's my daughter?!" She took a large step closer towards the fusion. "Where's Connie!?"

"That's… kinda complicated." Stevonnie answered, trying their best to remain calm and even-toned. "But I'm the fusion between Steven and Connie, Stevonnie. Er, I think I already said that… But yeah. Fusion is a Gem ability. Like what Steven's guardians were doing when you first met them."

"If that's the case, then I know you can come apart, or whatever." Her voice had a growing edge to it. "Connie's going to a hospital! All this… fusing isn't helping her!"

"Dr. Maheswaran, please believe me when I say that a hospital won't be able to help her. Only the Gems can do anything for her. And not only did fusing lessen Connie's pain, but it will allow me to move her back to Steven's house so they can help her."

The mother, however, only vigorously shook her head. "No!" she shouted, her voice cracking. "I am a doctor and, more importantly, her Mother! I know wh- whats-…" She broke off, at last, unable to hold back her flooding emotions. She held her face in her hands and sobbed uncontrollably into them.

"Dr. Maheswaran." Stevonnie took a step closer to the crying mother. "I know this is a lot to take in all at once. Connie never really told you about fusion or the fact that she has fused… even though she promised to not keep so many secrets from you. But doctors, a hospital. They won't be able to help her. Whatever is wrong with her is a result of what happened to her and Steven yesterday. And only the Gems can find a way to help her."

"And what if I say no?" Dr. Maheswaran revealed her face from her hands, tearstained as it was, and continued, "What if I say no and won't let you take her? Will you just push me away?"

"No." Stevonnie said, as their throat tightened with emotion. "I don't want that and Connie especially doesn't want that." Dr. Maheswaren said nothing in return, only covering her mouth to stifle a new wave of sobs. "I…" Stevonnie sniffled. "I know this isn't easy. You're both a doctor and a mother, and yet you're unable to help your own daughter. If… if you'll just step aside and let me go back to Steven's house, the Gems will be able to help her." They paused. "You trusted Connie enough when she asked you to try and get Steven and the Gems to help. Well, please. Trust her again now. When she returns, all cured of her ailments, then you and she can have a long talk about what she does exactly with the Gems."

Dr. Maheswaren looked back at the fusion. Her eyes were red and puffy. They seemed to overfill with the sadness that now gripped her. "How…" she began. "You speak as if Connie is right next to you, telling you what she wants you to say. How can you speak with so much certainty that this is what she wants?"

"Because I am her."

That simple phrase seemed to break whatever resistance Connie's mother still had. She said nothing, only nodding her head and making gestures towards the door. Stevonnie began walking towards the door, when a sad, broken voice whispered behind them, "Will I see my daughter again?"

"Of course. You just have to believe in her."

Stevonnie could hear more stifled sobbing as they left the room.

* * *

To say that Greg was surprised when Stevonnie left the Maheswaran Residence, would be an understatement. As they opened the van door and slid into the passenger seat, the only sound he made was a half-choked, "Stevonnie?!"

Stevonnie fastened their seatbelt and looked towards the van's driver. "Hi again, Mr. Universe." they kept their response short as they were still emotionally reeling from their introduction to Connie's mother.

"Uh… So what's going on, exactly?" Greg asked as he reached for the keys in the ignition.

"I fused so we can take Connie back to the temple. The Gems will be-…" Their voice broke, cutting themselves off as they tried their best to hold back tears.

Greg started the car and backed out of the Maheswaran's driveway. "So, it was kinda rough in their, huh?"

"If it's all the same to you, Mr. Universe, I'd rather not talk about it now."

They drove in silence for a ways, neither wanting to speak. It wasn't until they passed a sign that said they were about to turn onto Highway 13, that Stevonnie felt compelled enough to say, "I'm sorry about lying to you, Mr. Universe."

"Huh?" Greg replied, confused as to why he was being apologized to.

"About yesterday. You asked me why Steven and Connie had fused and… I lied to you." Stevonnie answered.

"Oh, that. Gotta be frank, I thought you were going to tell me that the Maheswaran's hadn't agreed to you leaving and had called the police or something."

Stevonnie giggled, actually feeling a little relieved. "No, not that I know of, anyway."

"You don't have to apologize for that, Stevonnie. Steven already did." Greg said.

"I know, but I still felt like I should apologize to you personally. It was me who did the actual lying, after all."

"Well, considering what I can imagine happened with the Maheswaran's, I can't really blame you for wanting to keep it under wraps." Greg said, making a sharp turn onto Highway 13.

They were silent again. Nothing was on either side of the road other than thick forests of trees. Stevonnie closed their eyes and inhaled-

 _How do you feel?_

 _Better I think. The fusion seems to be helping the pain._

 _But it hasn't gotten rid of it…_

 _No, but the Gems will be able to help. I know it._

 _…Connie?_

 _Yes, Steven?_

 _…_

 _What is it?_

 _I… I'm sorry._

 _Sorry? For what?_

 _I should never have talked to you on the beach that day. If I hadn't then you wouldn't be…_

 _Steven! Don't talk like that!_

 _But it's true!_

 _I want you to know right now, that no matter what happens, I wouldn't trade the time I've spent with Steven Universe for anything._

 _But Connie-_

 _That's enough of that, Steven. After the Handship crashed onto the beach, you tried to push me away. And I told you I wanted to be a part of your universe. That hasn't changed. Not even a little._

 _…_

 _So just cheer up. I'm fine right now and I'm sure the Gems will be able to cure me. So, let's just enjoy the quite now together until we get to the temple, alright?_

 _…Okay, Connie. Let's do that._

-and exhaled. They opened their eyes and they could see the sun beginning to peek over the horizon. They felt more at ease now, though still worried. But as the new day and the new challenges arose before them, Stevonnie began to feel like maybe they would be able to handle it.


	6. Reconstitution

The van gave a loud honk as Stevonnie began to climb the stairs. They turned and waved towards Greg, who was waving back. Stevonnie couldn't help but smile at the father. He had offered to go up to the house with them, but ultimately, Stevonnie had concluded that there was little he could add to the situation. Plus, the Gems probably wouldn't appreciate having him around. So Stevonnie sent him back to the carwash, with the promise that he would be notified when the situation changed. Still, Stevonnie watched as the van reversed, turned around, and began to make its way back to Beach City proper.

As they continued back up the stairs towards the beachside house, Stevonnie took off Steven's jacket. The sun had almost completely risen by now, and it beat down hard on the fusion, causing them to break out in a sweat.

Hopefully, by this point, they Gems had come out of their rooms. And, as if to confirm their hopes, before even opening the door Stevonnie could hear voices on the other side talking to one another.

"Geez, Pearl." Amethyst huffed. "You need to calm down."

"Calm down!?" Pearl proclaimed. "Steven is missing, Amethyst! We need a plan to find him!"

"No need." Stevonnie said as the opened the house's screen door. "I'll save you the trouble."

"Stevonnie?" Pearl asked with an odd mix of relief and perplexity.

"Man, dude." Amethyst said with a raised eyebrow. "When I said, 'Don't be a stranger', I didn't really mean for you to come over the next day." Stevonnie, however, barely heard the two, as their gaze was drawn to the Gems leader who, unlike her two compatriots, seemed to have no reaction to Stevonnie's entrance.

"Garnet?" Pearl asked, noticing her silence. "Aren't you going to say anything?"

Instead of answering, Garnet took a few wide steps until she was right in front of them. Stevonnie could, despite her shades, tell that Garnet was looking them up and down as if she already knew something was wrong. After a few seconds of silence, Garnet asked simply, "Who's hurting?"

"Connie." Stevonnie replied plainly.

Garnet nodded she began to lead Stevonnie over to one of the stools that sat at the kitchen's central island. Stevonnie took the hint and slid onto the stool, feeling relief as they hadn't realized how sore their feet and legs felt. They found they were still holding onto Steven's jacket, which they placed on the counter behind them.

Amethyst and Pearl quickly joined them over by the island. "Connie's hurt?" Pearl asked. "What happened?"

"That is a… interesting story." Stevonnie answered. They then began to retell the events of the night prior: Dr. Maheswaran and Greg waking Steven up, Connie being in terrible pain, them fusing and their meeting with Dr. Maheswaran and finally Greg taking them home. None of the Gems said anything during their story and when they had finished, a heavy silence settled over them.

Finally, breaking the silence, Garnet asked, "How do you feel, Stevonnie?"

Stevonnie found they had to take several breaths before they answered. "Tired. Like… I've been running a marathon all night and I'm only now getting a chance to rest." Stevonnie paused as they tried to catch their breath. "Weird… It's like this hit me all at once."

"That's because you're an imbalanced fusion right now." Garnet replied. "It's why you're tiring out so quickly."

"Imbalanced fusion?" Stevonnie wheezed.

"An imbalanced fusion is what happens if two people fuse and one of them are unable to give their fullest to the fusion." Pearl explained.

"A fusion is like any relationship." Garnet picked up. "It's made of give and take, from both sides. If that balance is disturbed, however, the fusion themselves suffer. So right now, Steven is having to work extra hard in order to maintain the fusion because in her current state, Connie can't."

"I see." Stevonnie mumbled.

"So you need to diffuse." Garnet continued. "If you keep this fusion up for much longer, it could be detrimental to your health."

"Alright." Steveonnie agreed, breathing heavily as they did. "But just long enough for you to examine her. Once you do, we're fusing back."

"No way." Amethyst said. "Look how quickly you went from full to empty. If you refused, the same thing would just happen again."

Pearl nodded her agreement. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but Amethyst has a point. Fusing while Connie isn't feeling one-hundred percent is dangerous."

"No no, it's alright." Stevonnie said as they got up from their stool. "I just needed to rest for a bit. Give me a glass of water and I'll be in pristine condition." However, as they tried to take a step forward, they stumbled and would have fallen to the ground if not for Garnet's quick movements to catch them.

"Still feeling pristine?" Garnet asked with just a hint of sarcasm.

"Okay… So pristine might have been stretching it." Stevonnie admitted. They could feel their heart barrelling along in their chest as they straightened themselves up. "But you guys don't understand. Connie was in terrible pain and the only thing that eased it was fusing." They inhaled sharply as they continued, "I know I'll need to diffuse so you can see Connie, but afterward, they'll fuse back. It's the only thing helping her…"

The Gems said nothing for a long while. They all just looked at Stevonnie and then looked at each other, only to look at Stevonnie again. At last, it was Garnet that broke the silence. "If that's what you've decided, then we can't stop you."

"Garnet!" Pearl cried out in utter shock. "What are you thinking?!"

"Yeah, G!" Amethyst added. "What if they hurt themselves trying to maintain their fusion?"

"That's just it." Garnet replied simply. "It's their fusion. If they think they can handle it in order to relieve Connie's pain, then… I have faith in them."She looked straight at Stevonnie as she said the last part. Stevonnie took her meaning instantly.

"Thanks, Garnet." they said simply. "And Pearl. Amethyst. I know this isn't what you want, but I have to do this. I can't just let Connie lay somewhere in agony. You understand, right?"

Pearl said nothing at first, only scowling at the ground, however, after a moment, she reluctantly admitted, "Of course I do. If… if I were in your position, I'd most likely make the same decision." She stepped over to the ailing fusion and cupped their cheek with her hand. It felt cool and relaxing on their damp face. "I just-… We just don't want you to try and take on more than you can handle."

Stevonnie gently took Pearls hand off their cheek and held it firmly. "I know." They grinned just a little, as they felt tears beginning to well up in their eyes. "You want to protect me, I understand that. But… sometimes I have to do things myself." They let go of Pearls hand as they had to wipe their eyes free of tears. "And besides, I'm not worried. All of you will be with me every step of the way. Right?"

Pearl nodded, as she wiped her eyes of errant tears. "Of course, Stevonnie."

"Just… ya know." Amethyst said as she made a deliberate effort to hide her own tender feelings. "If it get's to be too much for you, just diffuse for a few minutes and take a break. We don't want you to hurt yourself or anything…"

"I won't, Amethyst." They grinned at her. "Thanks for the concern." Stevonnie took an unstable step forward. Their legs felt like bricks of lead and all of their joints ached. "I need to lay down on the couch so that when I diffuse, Connie'll be laying down." However, even from where they were in the kitchen, the couch felt like it was miles away. They took another few steps forward before suddenly they were swooped off their feet.

"Easy. I got you." Garnet said as she carried Stevonnie to the couch, not unlike how one would cradle a baby around.

"Um, Garnet." Stevonnie said, feeling more than a little embarrassed. "This wasn't really needed."

"Well, we don't need you tripping over yourself." Garnet replied with a playful smirk. When they reached the couch, Garnet carefully lowered them onto the seat. All at once, Stevonnie sunk into the plush softness of the couch. With all the weight off of their legs, Stevonnie began to feel somewhat more at relaxed.

"Is there anything, in particular, I need to do in order to make sure Connie's laying down when I diffuse?" they asked.

"Just imagine Connie and Steven lying across from each other on the couch." Garnet responded.

Stevonnie did, and just as they had conjured an image in their head of the two youths lying on the couch, they could begin to feel the familiar sensation of diffusion slowly pulling them apart…

* * *

The first thing Steven noted when his senses began to register his surroundings was the curious feeling he felt at the bottom of his feet. It was an odd tingling sensation that felt like something was rubbing against it. As Steven sat up he saw what was causing the feeling in his feet. Connie was laying so close across from him that the bottoms of their feet were touching each other.

"Connie?" Steven's voice was softer than he intended. From his position, he couldn't see his friends face.

He swung his legs around and was about to get up off the couch when Amethyst rushed over to him and threw him in a tight hug. "Steven!" she cried. "How do ya feel?" Steven released a sputter of air as his answer and Amethyst, realizing what she was doing, released Steven from her grasp. "Hehe, sorry dude. Got a little excited there." she grinned abashedly at him as he re-gathered his breath. "So… how do ya feel?" she repeated.

"Not bad." Steven said. "Just a little groggy. Like I haven't gotten a good nights sleep."

"Well technically… you haven't really…"

"Connie!" Steven cried as he hopped off his side of the couch and hurried over to Connie's side. Unfortunately, Connie didn't look any better than she did last night. If anything, she looked worse. Her face was noticeably pale and her cheeks were flushed. But most notably to Steven, her normally bright and lively eyes looked dulled and glazed over. Despite that, however, she still looked intently at him as he knelt at her side.

"Hey." he said simply.

"Hey." she returned. Her voice sounded hoarse as if she had spent the previous day coughing nonstop.

"How do you feel?" Steven inquired as he nervously bit his lower lip.

"Well… the pains dulled a little." she offered.

Pearl carefully kneeled next to Steven as she placed her hand on Connie's forehead. "One-hundred three point two. Definitely a fever. And if I recall from when Steven was a baby, a fever means your body is trying to fight against something harming it." The Gem grabbed a pillow that had been pushed off the couch. "Here, try and sit up so you can rest your head on this."

"Connie." Garnet said as she too crowded near her couch side. "Can you describe how your symptoms started?"

Connie grimaced as she pushed herself up so she could lay on the pillow. After she had done so, she settled for a moment before talking. "It started… I'm not sure when. Late last night. The pain began in my abdomen, around my belly button. And from there, it just spread until I hurt all over."

"I see…" Garnet said as she bowed her head in thought. "And the pain now. You said it didn't hurt as much after your's and Steven's fusion?"

"Well…" Connie's eyes quickly flicked to Steven and then back to Garnet. "Right now the pain feels more like a dull ache all over. But…" Her eyes once again glanced over at Steven. "I… can already feel it beginning to get worse again."

Steven let out a little involuntary gasp. "It's getting worse…!" He quickly reached over to her and lightly grabbed her hands. "Here, let's fuse again."

Connie smiled softly. "It's alright for now Steven. Besides, we need to give Stevonnie a break. You heard what Garnet said about imbalanced fusions."

Before Steven could respond, Pearl cut in as she handed her a glass of ice water. "Here, Connie. You need to drink some." She did so, draining the entire glass quickly. When she was done, Pearl took the glass from her and placed it on the coffee table, next to the blue dinosaur that still sat there.

For a time, no one said anything. The five of them all seemed unsure of what to say or inquire about next. The silence might have held for much longer, if not for the door to the temple opening and Peridot walking out with none other then the blue pyramid machine. She dropped the machine with a heavy thud on the wooden floor as she looked rather crossly at them.

"Amethyst!" she said. "I thought you said you were coming right back! Aren't you going to assist me in dismantling the pyramid?!"

"Oh, right. Sorry, Dot." Amethyst said as she rubbed the back of her neck. "A, uh… situation has kinda ballooned out here."

"I see." she said as she craned her head around in order to see who they have crowded around. "I thought Steven had already taken Connie back to her own domicile."

"I did." Steven replied. "But late last night, she started having this terrible pain all over her body. We brought her back here to try and help her."

"Humans…" Peridot sighed with a smug look. "You're squishy bits are so fragile." Peridot walked over to the couch and looked very keenly at Connie. "You said you felt the pain all over yourself?"

"Yes… though not… at first." Connie breathed. The pain was starting to really come back now.

"Hmm. What do you mean?"

"The pain started in her abdi-thing." Amethyst answered for Connie.

"Yeah, right around here." Steven added as he pointed to his gem.

"Hmm… it's unfortunate you're not a Gem." Peridot said, rubbing her chin. "If you were, I'd know exactly what's wrong with you."

"Why? What do you think it is?" Steven asked eagerly.

"Well… were she a Gem," Peridot said. "I'd say she's suffering from a holographic reconstitution flaw."

"What? What does that mean?" Steven asked.

"It's just a term Homeworld uses for those who don't meet their standards." Pearl answered, with just a hint of bitterness in her voice.

"As you know, Steven," Garnet began, "Our bodies are just holographic projections from our gems. And you know that our projection can be disrupted by several means." Steven nodded his understanding. Garnet continued, "A 'holographic reconstitution flaw' is a term used for when a Gem is unable to properly regain their body after losing it."

"It affects about seven percent of all freshly harvested Gems." Peridot added. "It's caused by various imperfections in the kindergarten process."

"Hmph. 'Imperfections' is a nice way of saying it." Pearl muttered to herself.

However, Peridot either didn't hear or didn't care what Pearl had said and so continued. "The symptoms all line up. After regaining their form, the pain will begin at or around their gem, only to then spread throughout their body."

"W-what happens if nothings done about it?" Steven asked nervously.

"Best case scenario? The Gem loses their projection and can try to regain it again. Worst case?" Peridot shrugged her shoulders. "I'm not entirely sure. I'd assume permanent damage to their gem, but I've never witnessed a really serious case of that particular gem flaw."

"But it only happens to Gems?" Steven asked.

"Of course." Peridot responded.

But then Connie, almost too quiet to hear, spoke up, "Wait… Garnet… you said when… a Gem loses…. their form… Does that count… when they diffuse…"

"On a technical level, I suppose." Garnet answered. "When two Gems fuse, they combine the energy output of their gems in order to, among other things, create a new, stronger body. And when they diffuse, that excess energy is then used by each of their gems to quickly reform their original bodies." Garnet paused a moment to make sure Steven and Connie were keeping up. "It's different when a Gem is 'poofed'. Then they have to regain the lost energy themselves. And for most," she cast a sideways look at Amethyst, "that takes time. During diffusion, no energy has to be gathered because none was lost."

"Wait. Hold on…" Steven said with a strained look on his face. "I think I understood all that… mostly, I guess. But what about with Connie and me? Connie doesn't have a gem. How is her form regained?"

"Well…" Garnet looked over at Pearl and Amethyst, neither of who seemed to know what she wanted. "We don't really know. Our best guess is that your gem somehow increases it's energy output when you fuse, thus allowing Stevonnie to form and then that excess energy is used to let you and Connie regain your bodies. But anything specific…?" Garnet slowly shook her head. "Connie's the first human to experience fusion. And you're a hybrid, Steven. The normal rules don't completely apply to you two."

"Hmm…" Pearl hummed as she wore a thoughtful look on her face. "All this talk of fusion… Peridot? When we began the retrofits for the pyramid, what was it you said about the pyramid forcing the diffusion?"

"Nothing too major, I think." Peridot considered. "Just that, like how it forced the fusion, it would also diffuse them by force."

"And do you think that forced diffusion could have triggered a reconstitution flaw in Connie?" Pearl asked.

"Possibly…" Peridot said, tapping her chin. "But why would it effect only her? I would think Steven would be affected as well."

"Maybe I was!" Steven cried as a memory rose to the surface of his mind. "After I took Connie home last night when I got home and was getting into bed, I felt this strange, uncomfortable feeling near where my gem is. But after a few minutes, it just went away. I didn't really think about it until now, but could that have been the flaw-thing affecting me?"

"By clod, I think Steven's on to something!" Peridot said. "That theory is completely plausible. Probable even!" Peridot began to quickly pace back and forth. "The pyramid's forced diffusion could have triggered a minor variation of the holographic reconstitution flaw. Steven began to be affected by it similarly to how Connie is, thanks to their organic human parts. However, Steven still possessed a gem and said gem was able to stabilize and ultimately neutralize the flaw." Peridot stopped her pacing. Her eyes were alight with scientific intrigue. "This is so fascinating! If only I were still on Homeworld, I could submit it for further analysis."

"So… alright. To sum all that up…" Amethyst said, a thoroughly confused look on her face. "The pyramid caused this and Steven was able to dodge it because he has a gem and Connie wasn't because she doesn't. That right?"

"That seems to be the short version, yes." Pearl responded.

"If a forced diffusion caused this, could a natural diffusion be the key to undoing it?" Garnet said.

"But they have diffused naturally." Amethyst replied. "And last I checked, Connie's still hurting."

Steven didn't hear much of this, however. As soon as Peridot had finished her proposition of what was wrong with Connie, Steven had turned to his sick friend to encourage her. They had an idea of what was wrong and now they could begin to work towards a cure. But the cheerfully hopeful face he wore quickly melted away when he turned back towards her. Her eyes were closed, her face was twisted into a painful mask. The muscles in her arms and legs twitched and jerked as if they were being repeatedly poked with sharp needles. Steven carefully laid a hand on Connie's shoulder, however, even that elicited a painful moan from her.

"Connie?" Steven whispered. "Are you alright?" He held out his hands. "Here, let's fuse."

But as Steven went to hold her hands, she withdrew them and held them close to her chest. She opened her eyes and gazed at him. "Steven. I don't want you… to hurt yourself." she breathed.

"But you're getting worse, Connie." Steven's vision began to blur by the sudden onset of tears. "I… I can't just let you lie here in pain." Steven sniffled. Connie then carefully wiped a stray tear that had begun to fall down his face. As she began to lower her arm, he grabbed her hand and held it tightly in both of his. "We're Jam Buds, right? We'll do this together." Connie nodded as a smile grew on her face. This time, it was Steven's turn to wipe away a tear on Connie's face.

As a familiar feeling of closeness and happiness began to come over them, Connie said softly, "Steven, I… I don't know what… I would do without you." Instead of voicing his answer, Steven simply leaned over Connie and wrapped her tightly in a hug.

* * *

"Stevonnie?"

Stevonnie were on their knees, with their body pressed against the couch for support.

"Hey, guys." they said slowly. They felt so weak right now. The simple acts of standing up or even just turning around felt like they were beyond their power. Even speaking seemed taxing.

"Stevonnie. Are you okay?" the even, monotone voice of Garnet asked.

"I've been better." Stevonnie admitted. "Here, can someone help me onto the couch?" Pearl quickly obliged them, as she helped Stevonnie rise to their feet and then carefully turn them around and let them take a seat on the couch. "Thanks, Pearl." they said. They paused for a minute as they tried to catch their breath. "Okay. I'm going to be honest. I missed basically everything after Peridot finished talking." They paused again, breathing heavily. "We got a plan or something?"

"Something like that." Peridot said.

"The forced diffusion seems to be what has triggered the reconstitution flaw in Connie." Garnet explained. "So we believe a natural diffusion might be the way to stabilize Connie's system."

"Yeah, but with a catch." Amethyst added. "We'll need to send Steven and Connie back through the pyramid."

"That's right." Pearl nodded. "A natural diffusion from a permanently, perfectly fused state should be enough to 'restart' Connie's system, as it were. "

"Uh, I don't know if you guys have forgotten, but not being able to diffuse after going through the pyramid was kinda how all this started." Stevonnie said.

"True." Pearl replied. "However, Peridot and I have already begun discussing an idea on how to get around that."

"Yes, but it won't be a simple fix." Peridot took a step forward as her voice began to take on the familiar tone and cadence it took whenever she began to explain something really technical. "Our current idea is that we can use the pyramid to start the diffusion process but, once it has, stop it and allow you to then diffuse naturally. However, there's a problem. The pyramid is extremely inefficient in the way it uses it's provided power. If we were to simply cut off its power supply, then it might malfunction."

"What kind of malfunction?" Stevonnie asked though they thought they already knew what Peridot meant.

"The 'boom' kind." Amethyst answered as she mimicked an explosion with her hands.

"Er, yes. That's correct." Peridot admitted.

"Well, I'd prefer the pyramid not explode while I'm in it." Stevonnie breathed. "What do you have to do to help it's power problem?"

"That's… the easy part, actually." Peridot answered. "You see Stevonnie, when Pearl and I were first reverse-engineering the pyramid, we quickly found out that we didn't possess a power provider that could output the needed energy to power the pyramid. So I, um…." she trailed off as she looked away embarrassed.

"What?" Stevonnie asked.

"I just… disabled some of the pyramid's auxiliary systems."

"What she means," Pearl cut in. "is that she disabled all the safety and overflow systems."

"Hey, even without any of the safety measures, there was still a ninety-nine point six percent chance of success!" Peridot retorted. She pursed her lips as she regained her composure. "Regardless, if our plan is going to work, those safety systems will have to be enabled. But for that to happen, we need more power."

"And we can't just plug it into a wall socket, right?" Stevonnie asked sarcastically.

"We need much more power than what we can get from a wall socket." Peridot said, seemingly missing Stevonnie's wit.

"We need the Blue Beetle. Only the charge it can create will be enough to fully power the pyramid." Garnet said. "So while Pearl and Peridot are doing what they need to do to the pyramid, Amethyst and I are going to go hunting for the beetle."

"And we should probably get busy. We're working against the clock." Pearl said. "Stevonnie…" The Gem glanced over at Garnet. "Don't do anything beyond your capabilities. You're still an imbalanced fusion. You're not at your fullest."

"Don't worry, Pearl." Stevonnie said as they could feel sweat rolling down the back of their neck. "Right now, I barely feel like sitting here."

"Right…" Pearl responded as she once again glanced over at Garnet. "Come on, Peridot." Pearl turned and made her way to the temple door. "And grab the pyramid."

Peridot grumbled as she hoisted the pyramid in her arms and shuffled over to the door. "Amethyst." she huffed. "Can you open the door to your room?"

"Yeah, yeah. Sure." Amethyst quickly hustled over to the two. "Don't know why my rooms become everyone's workbench." She shone her gem's light on the door.

"Simple." Pearl smirked as the door split and receded into the wall. "Your room is where all the spare parts are." She and Peridot began to walk through the passageway.

"Those aren't spare parts, they're-" the door shut cutting Amethyst off from finishing her declaration. "Geez… no one understands my system."

"Well, you know what they say, Amethyst." Stevonnie said, doing their best to have a carefree smile. "Genius is never understood in its time."

"Hmph." Amethyst smirked. "That's what I keep telling everyone." However, Garnet swiftly moved in front of her fellow gem.

"Stevonnie." Garnet walked towards them but then said nothing for several seconds. She seemed to be thinking about something.

"Garnet? Is something up?" Stevonnie asked.

"How do you feel, Stevonnie?" Garnet asked finally.

"Honestly? Pretty terrible." they admitted. "I don't feel any pain or anything, but…" they exhaled heavily.

"You still feel exhausted." Garnet finished for them.

Stevonnie nodded. "Yeah. And it hit me harder and faster this time." They looked down at their feet. "Connie's gotten worse. Maybe despite the fusion."

"But you're not going to diffuse." Garnet stated.

"No, I'm not. The fusion's at least easing her pain. And I'm… We're not going to let Connie suffer alone." they said determinedly.

"I see." Garnet said. She was silent for several more moments before she spoke again. "Stevonnie we have a problem."

"I believe you mean we have a number of problems."

Garnet smirked slightly. "Well, yes. But the problem we're facing now is… rather personal." She looked straight the ailing fusion as she continued, "As we said, Amethyst and I are going to hunt down the beetle. But… I'm unsure if the two of us will be able to contain the beetle ourselves."

"Pfft. Speak for yourself." Amethyst murmured out of the side of her mouth.

Garnet, however, chose to ignore this comment. "To be honest, I think we would stand a much better chance at defeating the beetle if you helped us."

"Well, Garnet." Stevonnie sighed. "You know I'd help, but right now I don't even think I could stand up, much less fight."

"I'm aware." Garnet responded. "But I may have something that can help with that. Wait right here." And without another word, Garnet strode over to the temple door, opened it, and walked through.

"Uh… Do you know what she's getting?" Stevonnie asked Amethyst.

The purple gem shrugged as she swaggered over to the kitchen. "I dunno. Something she and Pearl talked a little about, but I don't know what it is." Just as Amethyst finished talking, Garnet emerged from the temple doorway. In her hand, she carried a small container.

"Here." she said, holding the container out so as to let Stevonnie take a good look at it. "This will be able to help with your imbalanced fusion." The container reminded them of the small, round bottle of wrinkle cream that Connie's mother kept in her bathroom. The way Garnet unscrewed the lid and scooped some of the thick, clear substance on her fingers further emphasized the comparison.

"Garnet?" they asked, just slightly warily. "What's that?"

"This is a special gel." Garnet explained. It was… discovered during the rebellion. You see Stevonnie, this gel can help balance an imbalanced fusion."

"Really?" Stevonnie perked up at Garnet's explanation. "Then why didn't you break that stuff out when I first got here?"

"Because…" Garnet paused before continuing, "Because I don't like using this gel."

"Why not?" Stevonnie asked. "It sounds really useful."

"An imbalanced fusion doesn't just happen when one of the people fusing is hurt or sick. It can also occur when two are fusing and they don't have the… connection, the relationship, the…" she smiled softly at Stevonnie. "If they don't have the funky flow."

"Well, you can rest assured I have plenty of that." They returned the gems smile.

However, Garnet's smile faltered. "I know you do. But during the rebellion, the gel was used on Gems who didn't have that connection." She looked down at her hand that still had the gel on it. "Using this, a fusion could still fight at full power, even without the necessary work to build a connection between the two fusees. It… cheapened fusion. A wonderful experience that takes time and work to be at it's fullest, just shoved aside."

"Man." Stevonnie said. "Between that stuff and the pyramid, Homeworld went to some weird lengths to use fusion."

"Homeworld didn't use the gel… Rose did."

"What?!" Amethyst cried out, nearly dropping the ramen flavoring package that she had been sampling from. "Rose used that gunk?… Na-huh, you're pulling our leg."

"I'm not." Garnet said very seriously. "It was before the tides of the war had shifted in our favor. Rose felt like we had to do something to gain an advantage…" Garnet trailed off as if she were reliving the experience. After a moment of silence, she continued, "She only took volunteers, but they weren't even allowed to pick who they wanted to fuse with. They were sorted so that the strongest fusions possible could be made." A bitter note grew in Garnet's voice as she explained all this. "This was one of the few things Rose and I clashed heads over…" The Gem was quiet for several more moments as she continued to stare at the gel in her hand. Finally, she shook her head and spoke, "Those were desperate times. But these are too. And…" She looked up from the gel and gazed at Stevonnie, a sad smile on her face. "I can at least comfort myself with the knowledge that you have plenty of funky flow."

"Overflowing with it." Stevonnie replied, smirking. "So how do we use this stuff?"

"For Gems, the process is simple. Just rub the gel onto the fusion's gems, like so." Garnet kneeled down and began to rub the clear gel onto Stevonnie's gem. While they couldn't feel Garnet's hand rubbing the gel on their gem, they still felt an odd tingling sensation creep down the back of their spine.

"All right." Garnet said as she stood back up.

Stevonnie tried flexing the muscles in their arms and legs and then winced in pain as their exhausted limbs screamed in protest. "Uh, Garnet. I don't think the gel helped."

"That's because we're not done." Garnet replied. "Because of your special circumstances, your gem only accounts for a fourth of your being. Your… humanness accounts for the other three-fourths."

"Then we might have a problem." Amethyst said as she walked over to join the two. "I don't think there's enough stuff in there to coat their whole body."

"That's not needed." Garnet replied as she scooped more of the gel into her fingers. She looked at the glob, before she wiped some off on the lip of the container and then extended her hand over to Stevonnie. "Here. Swallow this."

"S-swallow?" Stevonnie stuttered, surprised by Garnet's instructions. "Are you sure?"

"Pretty sure, yeah." Garnet answered.

Stevonnie gingerly took the clear glob of gel off of Garnet's hand and into their own. They looked over their thoroughly unappetizing snack, a thin grimace stretched across their face. "Er, what if this doesn't work?" they asked.

Garnet shrugged in response. "Try a bigger scoop."

"Great…" Stevonnie sighed. They closed their eyes and braced themselves. "Well, bottoms up…" In one quick motion, Stevonnie stuffed the entire wad of gel into their mouths and swallowed, which was followed quickly by Stevonnie having to use all their willpower not to gag. While Steven's memories offered no comparison, Connie's memories recalled a time when she and her parents were to have dinner with one of her mother's friends. Connie had been warned the morning prior that, no matter what was set in front of her, she needed to eat at least a little of everything on the table, lest she comes off as a rude houseguest. Well, Connie did her parents proudly that night, even managing to slurp down what she was told was fish, however, Connie still claimed it tasted and was textured in such a way that it resembled more of a piece of rubber with a light coating of slime on it.

The gel was bad, but it wasn't quite slimy rubber fish bad.

"Did it all go down?" Amethyst asked.

"Barely." Stevonnie grumbled as they smacked their lips trying to get rid of the aftertaste.

"And how do you feel?" Garnet asked.

"I feel…" They once again flexed their limb muscles but were, this time, surprised when they felt no pain or soreness. In fact, they felt like they had just awoken from the longest, deepest, most relaxing nights sleep they had ever had. "Actually…" They mumbled as they leaped up from the couch and as soon as they landed, they jumped forward, over the coffee table. They then turned on their heel and presented their new, reinvigorated form to their two friends.

"I feel amazing again!" they declared, puffing out their chest and resting their hands on their hips.

"Aww, sweet!" Amethyst ran over to Stevonnie and wrapped them in a tight bear hug. "You're back to normal now!" The gem relinquished her hold on them, before seeming to realize what she had said. "I mean, ya know… we still need to help Connie…"

Stevonnie only chuckled, however. "It's alright, Amethyst. Right now's the first time since yesterday that I've felt like I can help Connie." They walked over to Garnet, who was still by the couch. "I assume it would be too much to hope that the gel lasts for days at a time, right?"

Garnet nodded. "You would be correct. For Gems, it lasted about twelve or so hours. On you… I'm not sure."

"Of course. I knew today wasn't going to be an easy day." Stevonnie sighed. "Well, at least I can help you two now. Let's g-" They stopped suddenly as they noticed what they were wearing. As usual, they were wearing both Steven's and Connie's clothing, in this case, Steven's blue striped pajamas and Connie's seafoam green nightgown. "Um… Let me change real quick. Can't really charge into battle in pajamas." They glanced around the area before asking, "What did Pearl do with the clothes Steven's dad gave me yesterday?"

"I think she put the bag at the end of Steven's bed." Amethyst responded.

Stevonnie moved up the stairs to Steven's loft and, sure enough, there was the plastic bag at the foot of his bed. Stevonnie quickly opened the bag and took the clothes out. They were a little wrinkled, but otherwise were completely fine. The fusion hurriedly dressed themselves by placing their clothes from the other day over Steven and Connie's pajamas. They didn't know when they were going to diffuse, they didn't want the pair to be lacking in clothes when they did.

As they walked back down the stairs, tying the end of their 'Universal Experience' shirt as they went, Amethyst met them at the bottom. "You'll need this." She held on her shoulder Rose Quartz's giant, pink, flower decorated sword. "Can't go beetle hunting without it." she grinned.

"Thanks, Amez." Stevonnie said as they hoisted the sizable sword onto their own shoulder. "Where's Garnet?"

"Here." the Gem leader said as she walked through the screen door. "Ready?" Stevonnie and Amethyst both confirmed they were. Garnet nodded her head in response as the three of them walked over to the warp pad. They stepped on the circular pad and as the light began to surround them, Stevonnie crossed their arms and bowed their head. They inhaled-

 _How are you feeling, Connie?_

 _Not bad. The pain has mostly subsided. And I feel a lot better now that we're not putting ourselves and Stevonnie at risk by staying fused._

 _Yeah. Me too._

 _So… Steven. Are you ready to try and wield a sword?_

 _W-what do you mean?_

 _We're helping Garnet and Amethyst hunt the beetle. I mean, Stevonnie's not going to just sit on the sideline, right?_

 _Ohh… No of course not… Hmm… though now that you mention it, I've never used a sword before._

 _Well, then it's a good thing you're not using it alone then._

 _Definitely. So let's go hunt a beetle._

 _Right! Let's go._

-and then exhaled as they lifted their head and saw that they weren't in the house or temple anymore. They were on a grassy plain that stretched into nothingness in all directions. The only landmark was the small, familiar cave entrance.

"Alright, you two." Garnet said as she stepped off the pad. "Let's go." And with that, Stevonnie and Amethyst followed Garnet into the pitch-black cave entrance.


	7. Coming Undone

Today was one of the most stressful days that Stevonnie had experienced lately. Granted, the total amount of time they had been fused probably added up to less than two days, but even so, this was easily the most nerve-wracking experience they have had. And the reason wasn't because of Connie. Or, it wasn't just about Connie. Once they found the Blue Beetle, Stevonnie was going to have their first real battle experience. As they thought about it, they shifted the weight of the giant pink sword on their shoulder. The fusion didn't find the heft of the blade difficult carry, though, quite the contrary. While Connie was able to skillfully wield the sword, it's relative size to Connie's height often meant that the young swordswoman had to make certain compensations on more advanced and involved maneuvers. But Stevonnie, on the other hand, seemed a perfect fit for Rose's blade.

"Ya still back there, DT?" Amethyst called from in front of them. Both she and Garnet were in front, shining lights from their gems in order to light their path.

"Yeah, I am." Stevonnie responded. "Just… remind me when all this is over to talk to Pearl about getting some kind of strap and scabbard for this sword."

"Quiet, you two." Garnet's voice cut between them. "We're nearing the archival room. The beetle's nest might be near." And sure enough, as soon as the Gem leader had finished speaking, Stevonnie could make out the entrance way to the room. Garnet and Amethyst stopped short at the entrance as they waited for Stevonnie to join them.

A twisting unease began to settle in the pit of their stomach. "Man, I was kinda hoping not to have to come here again."

"I can certainly imagine." Garnet replied. "No good memories here."

"But hey, think about it this way, dude." Amethyst piped in. "At least the pyramid's not here this time."

Stevonnie felt the tight unrest loosen a little at their friend's wit. "Hehe, that's true. I doubt either of you would want to be permanently fused with me."

"At least we'd have plenty of funky flow." Garnet added, a playful smirk on her face.

"If the three of us fused, we'd have the funkiest flow any fusion could manage." Stevonnie declared, their anxiety now feeling smaller and more manageable.

"Hehe, yeah!" Amethyst cried. "Next time we get in a jam, we should try that."

"Alright, alright." Garnet said, raising her hands to stop any further conversation. "We have a mission to do. Let's get on it." Both Stevonnie and Amethyst nodded their understanding. "Okay." she began, "You missed this last time, Stevonnie, but once the pyramid had activated the beetle seemed to be scared of all the energy being released at once and thus, it began to quickly tunnel through the wall. I think if we follow it's dug out tunnels, we should be led to its nest."

"And what exactly will we find at the nest?" Stevonnie asked unsteadily, "Like, we won't find a bunch of Blue Beetle babies… will we?"

"Unlikely." Garnet calmly responded. "Only certain types of corrupted gems can multiply themselves. If the Blue Beetle were among them, then we probably would have seen them during our first encounter."

"Well, that's good." Amethyst said. "Me and Pearl had a hard enough time hurting it before. I don't want to try to again while also fending off a bunch of smaller beetles."

"Hey, wait. That's right." Stevonnie cut in as they laid their sword against the tunnel wall. "Before, none of you could even scratch it. Even one of Garnet's megaton punches didn't even make it flinch." They looked unsure as they turned away. "I mean… I've never fought anyone before. I've never even trained…"

"That's not true." Garnet replied firmly. "Connie has trained extensively with Pearl and both she and Steven have trained to fight together." Stevonnie was still turned away, so Garnet grabbed their shoulders and slowly turned them towards her. "Fighting fused isn't quite the same as fighting separately, but it will feel similar." She smiled easily. "You'll get the feel for it. Just let Amethyst and I start and you join in when you can."

"But…" Stevonnie's eyes wavered. Garnet still held their shoulders tightly, so they turned their head away, the shadows of the tunnel hiding their face. "I… I don't want to fight…" They turned back towards the light. "I just want… to be…" They said slowly.

Stevonnie wasn't sure what Garnet's reaction to this declaration was going to be, but they wouldn't have guessed what she did. The Gem smiled brightly. "No doubt. Steven and Connie are two of the most good-hearted individuals I know. Together, I'm not surprised you are hesitant to fight. But look." As she spoke, Garnet slowly drew her hands down from Stevonnie's shoulders and onto their forearms. She then gently pulled their arms out from their side. "Connie and Steven might not think much about the changes they have undergone from their training, but they are there." She let go of Stevonnie's arms, however, they still kept their arms raised.

"These.. are my arms?" For a moment, Stevonnie was not sure whose arms they were looking at. These arms are tanned and toned, their muscles carefully defined. "But… fusing didn't do this, did it?"

"Uh, no. Doncha remember when I mentioned to Connie about the new bod she was starting to get?" Amethyst asked with a raised eyebrow. "That's what I meant."

"Connie looks like this?"

"Well, maybe not quite." Amethyst shrugged. "But if she keeps training with Pearl, she will."

"And Steven's not beyond this change either." Garnet added. "He's… slimmed down noticeably since beginning to regularly go on missions with us."

"And because those cat snacks he used to eat went out of business." Amethyst murmured. Garnet, however, shot her a not-at-all-amused look, followed by shooting the beam light that emanated from her gem into Amethyst's eyes. "Hey!" she cried as she covered her face. "Too bright!"

Stevonnie, though, was still carefully examining their arms. "How have Steven and Connie not noticed these changes?"

"Are you sure they haven't?" Garnet asked simply.

Stevonnie was about to answer, when a pair of memories rose in their mind:

Steven was in his loft, getting dressed. He had slipped on his usual star marked shirt and had just buttoned his jeans. He began to walk down the stairs when suddenly, his pants fell from his waist and landed around his feet, nearly tripping him. After rebalancing himself, he quickly pulled his pants back up and frantically looked around to make sure no one had seen him in this embarrassing moment.

The second memory was of Connie, at school. No, not just school, she was in the locker room, after gym. She had just finished changing out of her gym clothes, back into her normal school uniform. She was heading towards the door to leave and head to her next class when she overheard a group of her fellow classmates talking.

"Did you see that girl, Connie's, arms?"

"Yeah, I did. And did you see her abs? It's like she's a weightlifter or something."

"It looks so weird. I don't think she has any friends… You don't think she's, like planning something, do you?"

"I doubt it. All I ever see her do is read books."

"But you don't get muscley from reading. She's gotta be doing something."

"Who cares? She's just a weirdo."

Connie had to bite her tongue hard in order to keep her tears from spilling over that day.

"You're a positive experience, Stevonnie." Garnet said, bringing them away from the memories. "Such memories are pushed to the back of your mind."

"Oh, man. I'm such an idiot." the fusion moaned as they covered their face with their hands. "How could I not even notice basic changes to my body?"

"Hey, don't take it too hard, DT." Amethyst reassured. She tried to clap Stevonnie on the back, but due to their height difference, instead clasped them on the small of their back. "Human bodies are weird. They change all the time."

Stevonnie still looked distressed, though, so Garnet spoke again, "I didn't tell you all this so you would feel… uncomfortable with the changes your body as gone through." She took their hands into her own and gave them a tight squeeze. "You don't want to fight. I understand that. But this is also true…" Garnet let go of one of Stevonnie's hands and slowly removed her shades, revealing her three eyes. Each one of her eyes was filled with a mixture of melancholy and compassion. All three seemed to look directly into Stevonnie's two eyes. "You are stronger than you think, Stevonnie, just as Steven and Connie are." Garnet paused briefly before continuing, "What we do, what it means to be a Crystal Gem. We don't just fight. We protect. We protect this planet and all the life on it. Do you understand, Stevonnie?" However, Stevonnie could only feel their lips tremble as they tried to respond, so instead they nodded slowly.

Garnet carefully placed her shades back onto her face. "Good." she responded. Her eyewear back in place, she smiled softly at Stevonnie. "I'm not saying your first battle will be simple. But you have hidden strengths you don't even know about. Believe in yourself… We do."

"Yeah, Stevonnie." Amethyst said. "We do believe in you. And if Pearl were here, she's say the same thing."

"She would." Garnet affirmed. "And you've already shown your strength. Throughout this whole ordeal, you've never faltered or turned back. You've faced every challenge with courage and determination." Garnet's smile increased in size as she spoke until it filled her whole face. "Individually you are strong, but together there is no obstacle you can't overcome."

Stevonnie sniffled as they rubbed their eyes free of tears. "Wow…" they said. "Guys, I… Thank you."

"Do you need a few minutes?" Garnet asked.

Stevonnie shook their head. "No. We're on the clock. If this gel stops working mid-fight, I might be in trouble. So I'm ready to head out."

"Alright. Let's go." Garnet said as she, Amethyst, and the now revitalized Stevonnie walked into the archival room.

* * *

The archival room was largely as Stevonnie remembered it. The large light bulb adorned cube machine was still there, as were the computer-like thing that took up the entire other wall and the smashed-in door from Garnet's original entrance. The only real difference Stevonnie noticed, besides the pyramid not being there, was a new, much more roughly constructed tunnel located just inside the entrance of the room. It was the size the Blue Beetle, several feet taller than Stevonnie and wide enough that the three of them could walk side by side and still have a bit of room left. As they looked down into the black abyss, they tightened their grip on Rose's sword.

"I assume that's it." Stevonnie noted.

"Oh, yeah. That's it." Amethyst confirmed. "Last time we were here, it scurried back down its hole as soon as the pyramid activated. I was just about to leap on its back when Pearl noticed you tumble out of the pyramid."

"'Leap on it's back'? What was your next move going to be?" Stevonnie asked with a bemused grin on their face.

Amethyst shrugged her shoulders. "I dunno. Punch it a lot?"

"Brilliant." Stevonnie chuckled. They turned towards Garnet, who had walked to the edge of the tunnel. "Plan of action, Garnet?"

"Hmm… I'm rethinking following the beetle into its tunnel." Garnet said as she slowly paced in front of the darkened entrance. "About five-hundred feet into the tunnel, it takes a sudden dive downwards for about another five-hundred feet. If we did go down into its nest, we wouldn't be able to easily retreat if we needed to."

"Man, Garnet." Stevonnie marveled. "You can tell all that just by looking at the entrance?"

"Yes. Well, and with future vision."

"Of course. How could I forget." Stevonnie thrust their sword into the ground as they and Amethyst moved to join Garnet.

"Alright, then Boss Lady." Amethyst said. "What's the plan?"

"We need to try and lure it out from its nest." Garnet thought out loud. "What caused the beetle to come out last time…"

"Maybe it was all the noise we were making?" Amethyst said. "Punching a door open isn't exactly quiet."

"Maybe…" Garnet replied, unsure.

"Wait a second, here's a thought." Stevonnie began, the idea still forming in their head. "When you guys came through here before you brought Steven and Connie, were any of the machines on?"

Garnet thought for a moment before answering, "No, they weren't. But Peridot couldn't help herself, and she restarted the power supply to the databanks." She motioned over towards the wall covering machine and it's single monitor and console.

"Alright, well the beetle is all about electricity, right? Maybe that's what attracted it." Stevonnie suggested. "I mean, I'm no electrical engineer or anything, but just looking at that thing makes me think it must be channeling a ton of power."

"You might be on to something." Garnet said thoughtfully. "We did extensive searches in this area and found nothing of note. If the beetle is attracted to large power sources, then it would have plenty of time to find this room. After we left, the databanks would have been left on for over three days."

"Okay…" Amethyst said slowly. "Well, then what about when me and Pearl were guarding Peridot when she came back here to look through the databank? We didn't see the beetle then."

"It's like you said, Amez." Stevonnie replied. "The pyramid scared it off. Maybe it's just trying to keep it's distance now."

"Yes, I believe you're right, Stevonnie." Garnet said. "The beetle must be attracted to large quantities of electricity. But now, how are we going to get it back here?"

"Uh, well that's the easy part." Amethyst answered. "You can control electricity."

"True, but I can't just start shooting electric bolts everywhere. That would be dangerous."

"Why don't you just channel the current through yourself?" Stevonnie asked. "Steven's seen you do that before and as long as you remain grounded, there shouldn't be any danger."

"Until the beetle comes." Amethyst added.

"Until the beetle comes." Stevonnied amended.

"Hmm…"Garnet thought to herself. "That could work… Alright. It's not as if we have many options. Before I start, you two need to get ready."

Stevonnie complied by removing their sword from its earthen sheath and then, with the thought only half acknowledged, summoned their round, spiral shield to their left arm. They looked at them, both the shield and the sword together, and felt like this was right. They were here, where they were supposed to be, and they felt ready.

"Looking sharp, DT." Amethyst complimented as she summoned her whip from her gem.

"You too." Stevonnie shot back. "Just, this time, try and have more of a plan than just 'punch it a lot'."

Amethyst was about to respond, however, Garnet cut her off. "Okay, are both of you ready?" she asked. The duo nodded their confirmation. Garnet said nothing in return, only clenching her fists as both of her gauntlets appeared on them. She then widened her stance as she positioned both of her hands in front of her, her palms not touching one another.

For several minutes, nothing happened. Just the three of them standing there at the ready. Stevonnie was just about to ask what the wait was for when the space between Garnet's hands began to glow. It started off barely noticeable, a flicker of a glow. However, it slowly began to flicker even faster as it's glow began to expand, until finally, Garnet had produced a small ball of what looked like a pure electrical current that hung in the air between her hands.

"I'm beginning phase two." Garnet said simply after a time. Before Stevonnie could ask what phase two was, the ball of energy suddenly began to shoot off small bolts of electricity as it again began to grow in size. The orb expanded until it was about the size of a basketball. "Alright." Garnet said, her voice straining with the effort to hold the electric ball in place. "Get ready. If the beetle's near, it should be sensing this." And no sooner had Garnet spoken, when Stevonnie began to feel an eerily familiar rumble beneath their feet.

They raised their sword and shield and widened their stance, adopting what Pearl had dubbed the 'Alpha' stance, a battle position that's commonly used when you couldn't see your foe and weren't sure when they were going to strike. Stevonnie slowly went through all the mental pre-battle preparations. They closed their eyes, slowed their breathing, and focused on the oncoming threat. As they did, the rumbling intensified.

"Get ready! I can see it coming!" Garnet cried. Stevonnie opened their eyes and saw what their leader was referring to. In the beetle's tunnel, there was a distant electric blue light that was steadily getting closer to them. With each passing second its speed seemed to increase as the light grew bigger and brighter. Stevonnie could feel their grip once again tighten on the hilt of their sword as they braced themselves for the attack.

Just as it looked like the light was about to overfill the tunnel, a form suddenly rushed out of the hall. It was large, light blue with a large terrifying horn sprouting from its forehead. It had eight legs and it's back shell sputtered open to reveal it's impressive looking wings. Stevonnie could feel every muscle in their body tense up as they gazed at their adversary. The Blue Beetle was here.

Before Stevonnie could even consider what their first action should be, they heard Garnet yell, "Cover yourselves!" They turned towards her and saw Garnet holding her electric ball not unlike how one would hold a baseball they were about to throw. And sure enough, with all her might Garnet lobbed the energy sphere. However, she didn't throw it at the beetle, instead aiming for the archway of the tunnel entrance that hung over the back half of the beetle. As soon as the ball made contact with the stone tunnel, it exploded in a flash of light and dust. Stevonnie raised their shield to cover their face and mere moments later jagged shards of rock came flying in their direction. Most missed or bounced harmlessly off of their shield, however, they did feel a few stones glance off of their legs and stomach. They hurt, but not enough to make Stevonnie flinch from their position.

As the dust settled, Stevonnie could begin to make out the damage that Garnet's opening attack had caused. The beetle was still there, of course, but now it's back half was buried in the rubble caused by the explosion. They could see the beetle desperately trying to free itself from its rocky prison.

"Amethyst. Over to Stevonnie." Garnet ordered as she herself made her way over to them.

"What's going on?" Stevonnie asked as both Gems arrived at where they stood.

"My attack had less impact than I thought it would." Garnet quickly explained. "The beetle must have absorbed some of the energy from the electric sphere."

"So your orb was supposed to do even more?" Stevonnie asked.

Garnet nodded as she spoke, "It's going to free itself soon and when it does, there's going to be a huge release of the energy it siphoned away from my attack. We need cover."

"Got it." Stevonnie said. "One protective bubble coming up."

"Not yet." Garnet replied. "The energy wave it's going to unleash will be immense. We'll need a bubble at full power in order to guard against it." She looked over at the beetle, still struggling to free itself. "I'll tell you when. Just be ready." And then they waited, all three of them eyeing the beetle as it slowly began to unbury itself. After awhile Stevonnie could see more pairs of its legs and it began to try and sputter its shell open to push even more rubble off of itself. But the true sign that it was almost free came when short sparks of electricity began to jump from its horn. "Almost…" Garnet said. Stevonnie braced themselves, preparing to bubble themselves and their friends at a moments notice.

"Now! Bubble us!"

Just as soon as Garnet had finished speaking, Stevonnie enveloped themselves and the Gems in a pink bubble. Once the protective barrier had formed, a huge wave of light filled the room, blocking the beetle from view. Stevonnie saw nothing around them, save for their two comrades beside them and the smattering of variously sized rocks breaking apart against the bubble. However, despite their bubble making prowess, Stevonnie could still feel the charge of electricity in the air as they could feel the hair on the back of their neck standing on end.

And just as quickly as the light had spread through the room, it began to recede. But before Stevonnie could ask Garnet what their next move was, they saw a fast moving blue blur charging towards them. In a single deft move, they dispelled their bubble and leaped aside, narrowly missing the beetle as it rushed passed them. They turned on their heel, trying to locate where Amethyst and Garnet had gone. Stevonnie couldn't find Garnet right away, however, they did see the stout purple Gem begin her own charge against the beetle.

"Yeah! Not so great when it's happening to you!" Amethyst yelled as she leaped into the air and attached herself onto the beetle's head, of all places. Her grip firmly held the Gem began to repeatedly punch the beetle in its face. "Yeah, eat it! Right in the face!" The beetle, for its part, seemed more annoyed by Amethyst barrage then afraid and it simply shook its head vigorously from side-to-side as it tried to dislodge its attacker. As these attempts failed, though, Stevonnie noticed that small bolts of electricity began shooting from the beetle's horn.

"Amethyst! It's horn! Look-" However, Stevonnie was too late with their warning as there was a quick flash of light and Amethyst dropped to the floor, her leg twitching slightly as the beetle began to refocus itself onto the fusion. The corrupted gem seemed to pause a moment before it began a new charge towards Stevonnie. However, this time rather than dodging, they raised their shield and met the beetle head on. The beetle clashed against their shield, pushing Stevonnie back a few inches. But with the initial impact over, Stevonnie found themselves able to push back against the Blue Beetle. For several long seconds, neither of them were able to force the other to yield. Stevonnie could feel the muscles in their arms, legs, and back strain against the beetle as they strained the muscle in their head to try and figure out how to break this stalemate. However, to their dismay, Stevonnie saw the telltale sign of the beetle beginning to charge an electric attack, as small bolts of electricity began shooting between the two tips of its horn.

With and idea only partially formed in their mind, Stevonnie summoned all their strength and with a single, mighty push, they were able to send the beetle stumbling back a few inches. However, even that small space was enough for Stevonnie to make their move. Just as the beetle began to press it's charge again, Stevonnie sidestepped away causing the beetle to stumble again when it expected to press against its foe. As the corrupted gem began to figure out what had just happened, Stevonnie raised their flower-patterned sword and, with a single swift movement brought it down and separated the beetle's horn from its body.

For a second, the beetle just stood there, stock still. Stevonnie glanced down at the horn lying on the ground. Not only had they took the beetle's horn, but they had also taken beetle's gem which had been placed in the crook of the horn's two tips. Stevonnie looked back up towards the beetle and in an instant, the beetle poofed in a cloud of dust. Stevonnie, however, just stood there, not completely believing it was over.

"Holy smokes, DT!" Amethyst ran towards them, a shocked and exuberant look on her face. "That was amazing!"

"It was." Garnet agreed as she walked from behind the fusion. "That was most impressive."

"Garnet. Where'd you go during the fight?" Stevonnie asked as they dismissed their shield.

"Hmm…" Garnet hummed, with a playful look on her face. "Well… I might have let you take the lead in this fight." She gave a wide smirk. "So I could see how you would do."

"And? How'd I do, then?"

"Not bad. A little too close for the finish, but…" her smirk turned from playful to one tinged with pride. "Considering this was your first real fight, you did exceptionally." Finishing, Garnet looked at the beetle's horn that still laid on the ground. Before Stevonnie could ask what they were going to do with it, the Gem raised her foot and stamped hard on the horn, causing it to poof as well. Now only the bright blue gem laid there. Garnet bent over to pick it up, with a quick gesture of her hands, surrounded the gem in a small bubble that floated lightly above the Gem leader's palm.

Stevonnie though, exhausted from the excitement of battle, merely sighed and said, "Were you just sitting back and watching me?"

"Somewhat." Garnet replied. "I was prepared to jump in and intervene if I needed to."

"Your future vision let you know they were golden?" Amethyst asked.

"Not quite." Garnet answered as she turned back towards Stevonnie. "Just as before, my future vision showed me all the terrible things that the beetle could do to you. But this time…" she trailed off as her prideful smile turned into a full on grin. "This time, I just had faith."

Stevonnie could feel their face warm as their cheeks turned bright red. "R-really?… I don't know what to say…" They then chuckled. "Other than that I'm not sure whether it's flattering or stupid that you went against your future vision."

"Probably both." Amethyst answered. "But that's how all the best plans are."

Stevonnie joined in on the Gems grinning. "True enough." They turned towards their leader. "Next move, Garnet?"

"Easy. Get you and the beetle back to the temple." Garnet said. "Then we can finally end this."

Stevonnie nodded. "Sounds good, but can you just give me a minute? Need to catch my breath."

"Sure, but don't dawdle. We still need to hurry."

Stevonnie once again thrust their sword into the ground so as to give their hand a moment's respite. They squatted down, resting their arms on their knees as they breathed deeply in order to get as much air in their lungs as possible. They inhaled-

 _Oh man, Connie! We did it! And we did pretty well with the sword! Wasn't that awesome?_

 _…_

 _Connie? Why aren't you answering?_

 _…_

 _C-Connie… This isn't funny. You know I'm worried…_

 _…_

 _Connie! Connie!_

-and Steven exhaled as he fell backward onto his behind. Before even coming to a full stop, however, Steven was already scrambling over himself to try and get over to his friend's side. The Gems were saying something, perhaps to him, but the frantic young man didn't pay attention to them. His prime concern was Connie.

As Steven approached her side, the worry and panic that had settled in his stomach tightened. Her face was pale and sallow. Her eyes were closed, but Steven could still tell that they were still looking all around despite that. He took her hand into his own and found it clammy and cool to the touch. For awhile, Steven just gazed at Connie, wondering with a growing dread which shallow breath was going to be her last.

"Steven." A calm, controlled voice came from behind him. He turned around and saw both Garnet and Amethyst were standing just behind him. Amethyst looked both worried and frightened by Connie's quickly deteriorating condition, however, Garnet still looked as collected as ever.

"Garnet." Steven croaked, barely able to form words over the fear that threatened to overtake him. "Connie… she's…"

Garnet said nothing to Steven, instead turning towards Amethyst and asking, "Can you hold the beetle, Amethyst?"

Her question seemed to shake Amethyst out of some sort of deep train of thought. "Huh? Hold the beetle?" she asked. Garnet nodded in response. "Well, I mean… You know I'm not good at bubbling, G…"

"I'm not asking you to rebubble it." Garnet's voice grew in volume and firmness. "Just hold it." Amethyst gave no vocal response, rather she just held out both of her hands as Garnet gingerly placed the bubbled gem in them. With her hands now free, the Gem crouched down next to Steven as she as well began to examine Connie.

"Do… Do you think fusing would help?" Steven asked, trying to keep his voice steady.

Garnet shook her head. "No. Diffusing neutralized the gel. Even if Connie had the strength to initiate fusion, you would diffuse almost instantly."

"But then-…" Steven rubbed his eyes, trying to clear them of tears. "What do we do?"

"Same as before." Garnet carefully scooped Connie up in one of her arms and followed that by removing Rose's sword from the ground. "We get you and Connie back to the temple as soon as possible." She paused, just for a moment to look down at the hurting girl in her arm. "Let's go." she said, almost too quiet to hear.

As the group left the room and began to walk up the tunnel that led back to the surface, Steven carefully held one of Connie's hands.

* * *

Connie was only barely aware of what was happening around her. She knew that she and Steven had diffused. After that, she had heard voices talking near her and then she felt a powerful arm raise her up and carry her. And then she felt someone grab her hand and not let go.

She could feel whoever was carrying her begin to walk up some stairs and then she heard the familiar squeaky sound of a screen door opening. There was more talking after that.

"Oh, my goodness! Is she alright!?"

"She's fading fast. Is the pyramid ready?"

"Yes, it should be. Pearl and I-"

"No time for your longwinded explanation Peri. We gotta go."

There was a pause, as Connie felt herself moving again. A calm, though still very strained voice spoke next.

"Steven, are you alright?"

No response.

"Steven?"

There was no more talking after that. At least, not that Connie was aware of. She wished there was. It distracted her from herself.

Connie had never felt like this before. She felt weak, weaker than she had ever felt in her whole life. Her arms and legs were heavy leaden weights that dangled off of her body. Several times she had tried to speak, to let the voices know what was wrong and to ask if Steven was okay. But she couldn't. It was using all her strength to just keep breathing.

After a time, she came to a stop again. The air was cool here and in the distance, Connie thought she could hear the sound of a waterfall breaking against the rocks. There was more talking, but Connie couldn't understand it. That would take to much strength. Again, she felt herself moving, but this time, it was only a short jaunt before whoever was carrying her carefully put her down. Connie wasn't really sure what she had been placed upon. The surface was smooth and cold. It felt nice against her overly-warm body.

Someone else sat next her. The person grabbed her hand and held it tightly.

"Don't worry, Connie. It's almost over."

Light began welling behind Connie's closed eyelids. Something was happening. She slowly and with all her power, opened her eyes and she saw, outlined against the rising light behind him, was her friend and closest confidante, Steven Universe. And just as she had taken the soft smile he wore in, she felt her eyelids beginning to droop. Steven was saying something now, but she couldn't make out what. Slowly, she felt all feeling begin to drain away from her body. The light, even through her eyelids, became oppressively bright and… then….

Her mind wondered unable to stay focused.

But then, a jolt shot through her body.

For a long time, she felt nothing.

And then…

Everything…

* * *

Priyanka Maheswaran was a proud woman. She took pride in the actions of her daughter and the actions of her husband of course, but Priyanka also took pride in her own accomplishments. She was a doctor, yes, and a talented one too if her colleagues were to be believed. And she was as well, a mother to a very bright and talented young girl. But Priyanka also took pride in things that might cause others to raise an eyebrow in confusion were she to tell them about it.

One of the things that Priyanka Maheswaran took pride in was that she had never fallen asleep in a hallway.

That may seem like an odd point to take pride in, but this particular quirk could be traced back to her time spent at med school. Back then, Priyanka had lost count of the number of times late Friday or early Saturday, when she would be walking back from class or the library, only to find one of her peers passed out in a corner of the hall. Now, she didn't begrudge any of her classmates their fun (as long as it didn't interfere with her studying.) but still, she couldn't help but think that it just seemed wrong for people who wanted to save lives to just pass out before they could reach their bed.

However, it seems that in addition to everything else that had happened in the last twenty-four hours, Priyanka would have to scratch "Never slept in a Hallway" off of her list of prides. For here she was, waking from the light slumber she had been having, sitting outside her daughter's bedroom door and wondering if the sound she had just heard was Connie awakening.

It had been late last night when the knock had come to their door. Both Priyanka and her husband had rushed to answer the door, both feeling a similar mixture of hopefulness and fear at what lurked on the other side. When they had opened the door, they saw all five of them: Steven, his three guardians, and Connie craddled carefully in the arms of the largest among them. Garnet, she thought, as she remembered her name.

They handed her daughter over to her husband, who seemed to strain slightly under the weight. Neither Steven nor his guardians offered any explanation on what they had done to Connie, only that she was better now and should sleep through the night. Priyanka had tried to pry more information out of them on what they had done, but it seems that the Universe family is unwilling to divulge their secrets.

Is that why Connie is so reluctant to tell her own parents anything about what she does with them? Or is it because… she still feels like she can't?

The mother was now fully awake when she heard another noise coming from her daughter's room. She rose slowly to her feet, her joints aching from the awkward sleeping positions they had been put in, and she slowly pushed the door open.

"Mom?" Connie was sitting up in her bed. Her eyes were bright and aware, a sharp contrast to how they had looked the previous evening. Priyanka tightened the belt of her robe as she entered the room properly.

"Dear? Are you… How are you feeling?" She stood next to her bedside.

Connie paused before answering. "Great." she said finally. "I feel like nothing happened at all."

Waves of relief swept over Priyanka as she felt her knees grow weak. She had to sit down on her daughter's bed in order to keep herself from collapsing.

"Mom?" Connie's voice sound soft and unsure. "I'm… I'm sorry."

Priyanka blinked in response, not sure what her daughter meant. "Sorry?" she asked. "What do you have to be sorry about?"

"For… For not telling you things. Like about fusion and… and Stevonnie." She looked into her mother's face, visibly trying to maintain her composure.

Priyanka sighed as she began, "Oh, dear. I'm not going to pretend that I'm not… disappointed that you haven't been telling me about what you've been doing with Steven and his guardians, but…" she trailed off as she reached over and brushed some loose strands of hair out of Connie's face. "I know your father and I can come off as a little… overbearing sometimes. But.. I just want what's best for you, Connie."

"I know, Mom." Connie's voice wavered with emotion as she spoke. "I don't want to hide stuff from you and Dad, but… I'm afraid if you knew what I was doing…" She trailed off, unable to finish her thought.

Priyanka's mind wandered back to that night at the hospital, when those strange monsters had attacked and how Steven and Connie had so deftly dealt with them. The way they moved and operated, it was like they had been trained for it. Is that what she was doing whenever she went over to Steven's? And if so, why?

"Well," Priyanka began, pushing the thought aside, "We've got a little time now. Is there anything you want to talk about?"

Connie was about to answer when suddenly a song began playing. It was the theme song to some cartoon Connie enjoyed watching.

"Here, I need to check that." Connie said, as she reached over to her bedside table and grabbed her cell phone. "Hello?" she said as she held the phone to her ear. "Oh, Steven!" Her face brightened immediately as she spoke. "Yeah, I just got up… No, I feel great. No, no pain or soreness or anything… Come over? Umm… well…" Her eyes dashed back towards her mother, the unspoken question clearly visible in them.

Priyanka's kneejerk reaction was to say no, that Connie needed her rest. But then, she thought back to last night, when Connie had been brought home. Out of the four of them, Steven had spoken the least but had said the most. Everything about him, from his body posture to his shifting gaze that went back and forth between Connie and her parents. Whatever had happened to cure Connie, Steven seemed to have taken the brunt of it.

Slowly, Priyanka nodded her head. Connie seemed to freeze with disbelief before she could relay the information to her friend.

"Yeah, you can come over. Just, not for too long." Her eyes darted back towards Priyanka. "I still need my rest." Connie then bid Steven good-bye before ending the call and placing the phone next to her on the bed.

"Steven's coming over then?" The mother asked simply.

"Yeah, he is. Though not for long." Connie responded.

"Alright. Well, I guess we can have our talk later after he leaves if you want."

Connie nodded. "Yeah. We will."

The sound of the door bell rang through the house. "I'll get it." Priyanka said as she went to leave the bedroom and head towards the foyer to answer the door. Her first thought was that it was Steven, but surely it couldn't be. He lived all the way in Beach City. There was no way he could get here that quickly… was there?

She opened the front door, and sure enough, there stood young Steven Universe.

"Oh… Hi, Dr. Maheswaran." He said with just a hint of nervousness. "Is… is Connie awake?"

"Hello, Steven." Priyanka returned pleasantly. "She is. She's still in her room. I'll take you there." She closed the door and began to make her way back up towards the stairs and over to Connie's room, Steven following closely behind her. They both entered the room and as soon as they saw each other, Steven rushed over to Connie's bedside.

"Connie!" he greeted enthusiastically. "Are you alright?"

"I told you over the phone, Steven." Connie chuckled lightly. "I'm alright now."

Priyanka quietly exited the room, though she lingered just to the side of the doorway, however, Connie knew her mother was still there. Steven seemed to be trying to lead the conversation over towards the events of last night, but Connie kept derailing him by cutting him off and giving non-committal answers. It seems Connie wasn't going to give anything up until they had their talk.

The doctor sighed slightly as she began to walk away. The talk. This isn't the kind of talk she thought she was going to have with her daughter. And what kind of talk should it even be? A small talk, just enough to touch base and make sure everything was fine? Or a big talk, where Priyanka tries to get as much out of her daughter as she's willing to divulge?

A sudden flash of light coming from Connie's room interrupted Priyanka's musings on talks. She quickly rushed back into the room and was shocked at what she found. Neither Connie nor Steven was there. Instead, in their place, what looked like a teenager.

"Ah, hello again, Mo- er, I mean Dr. Maheswaran." Stevonnie awkwardly greeted as their cheeks swiftly reddened. "Um… you see what happened was, Steven was giving Connie a hug good-bye and-" Their eye's widened as they seemed to remember something they had forgotten. "I mean, you know, just a normal 'friend hug' and… uh, well… You see, sometimes fusion can happen without you meaning it to…" they trailed off as they looked down at their feet.

Priyanka bit her tongue.

Definitely a big talk.

* * *

 **A/N:** **And here it is! The final chapter!** **I actually finished a project! Wahoo!**

 **Man, this has been a trip. My first fanfic after such a long hiatus. It feels really good. It also turned out a lot better than I thought it would, so you know. That's always a plus.**  
 **But all that aside, I just want to say, thank you for reading all the way though. I really appreciate that as well as the comments/favorites/whatevers that have been kicked my way as well. But even as this story finishes, I'm already thinking about the next. So here's hoping that one is good to.**


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